Look for Light Levels.
The 3 L’s all come down to one thing: Look for Light Levels. Especially when there’s water involved in the scene. I was on my way home after class at the Chicago Botanic Garden yesterday (Saturday) when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a few geese on the water. Actually, it was the differing light levels that caught my eye with the birds as almost an after-thought. There was no color since this was 24 hours before our 1-in-a-row sunny day allocation (Sunday). That meant monochrome was the only way to go because I do remember someone once told me “don’t shoot in color when there is none” so I didn’t. White (color) Balance has no affect on the color when there is none. Just remember when changing the WB setting manually, it will not revert to anything. In other words, it’s like a well-trained dog that will sit and stay. Good thing I was shooting in B+W so the shot didn’t have a magenta cast.
For all you camera setting people: ISO 640, 180mm focal length, f8 @ 640, Spot Metering, WB Florescent, no camera support which accounts for the high shutter speed that let me hand-hold the camera without blurring the image.