Lots of rain here in northern Delaware lately, and daily temperatures are rising, so plants are growing like crazy. What’s a landscape photographer to do when there is so much green and little else? I’m finding out: Shoot in black and white on very sunny days when there are ample scenes of high contrast.
The following photos I shot with my Pixel 7 Pro phone and the First Light app made by Filmic Pro. First Light has a number of filters that produce jpegs with very different looks. There’s one that simulates slide film, another that simulates infrared film, another that simulates color print film, and another batch of filters that simulate various black and white films. Among that last batch my favorite filter is called “Salt.” It loves very high contrast scenes, making the higher tone areas glow. Also, it does very well darkening skies to prevent highlights from over-exposing.
Filmic Pro is an app for shooting professional level video on a smartphone. First Light is the photo app that accompanies Filmic Pro. Both are inexpensive and easy to use. I highly recommend both. They run on upper-level iPhones and Android phones.
I took all the following shots in the early morning when the sun was strong and low in the sky, shining through leaves to produce the high contrast scenes that First Light loves.
Yes, this preset does some amazing stuff that I wouldn't know how to do myself, either in shooting or editing.
Surrealistic and Fourth Dimensional!