Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Monochrome Landscapes of Ladakh

Monochromes are a great way to portray a classic moment and it works wonders when applied to landscapes. Initially, I was not keen on taking landscapes in monochrome. Instead, I would take portraits and street photography in monochrome and landscapes in full colour. This went on till I happened to change a colour landscape picture to monochrome during post processing and ended up totally liking it.

 
Hence, this time when I was in the thin air of Ladakh, I consciously took a lot of photographs in monochrome and ended up liking them. I hope you do too. There is something about landscapes in monochrome that I never seem to understand. There seems to be some mystery around them that you end up watching them intently for long hours, especially if they are large size prints. Or at least it has that effect on me.

 
And what better place to join together landscapes and monochromes than Ladakh, where every sight is a Himalayan vista, the lighting nearly always fantastic and blues that no place can beat.

 
So whether your object is a mountain, a valley, a river, a lake or open skies, monochrome landscapes look stunning. It is difficult to pin point a favourite in monochrome landscapes, but I would think of wide open monochrome valleys.

 
Such valleys give a sense that it never ends. Something like monochrome shots of people or building structures or automobiles, wherein people call them classic or never to die.

 
Such expressions are difficult to get in landscapes, but monochromes seem to elicit such a response even in landscape photography.

 
Now, I am not sure if I like these monotones, because they are monochromes or because they are landscapes of Ladakh. Either ways, I am happy that I ended up living the moment and capturing it in treasurable monotones. I hope you too enjoy the treasure.

11 comments:

  1. I really like B&W for landscapes it simplifies the image to shapes and lines. Very nice images!



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  2. Nice captures!!

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  3. Neat. Especially the first one.

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  4. Thank you! And yes, I agree with monochromes making pictures simpler.

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  5. These are all very beautiful images, Sankara, and my favourite is the first, for the dramatic lines and forms that the black and while emphasises here so well.

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  6. Nice city to visit where so many things of nature we can feel on earth. 

    2nd pic is looking very nice where many houses made on the high mountains which is really amazing to see.

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  7. Thank you Andrew! Even I like the 1st one the most.

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