It’s inevitable: Sooner or later you’ll come upon an interesting scene, and the only camera you have on hand is your phone. Sure, it’s possible to make impressive images with the latest phones, but what if the photo you envision requires a long exposure?

One of the great appeals of b&w imagery is that by stripping away color it’s possible to achieve very dramatic photos with high contrast, deep blacks, and properly exposed highlights. If your monochrome images are bland and disappointing, this tutorial is for you.

Landscape photography involves several challenges, not the least of which is arriving at a correct exposure. That’s because nature scenes, especially those shot with a wide-angle lens, may include a very wide range of tones from bright highlights to deep shadows, and skies that often fall somewhere in between.

Have you ever deleted photos by mistake when reviewing images on your camera’s LCD screen? If not, it’s quite possible you’ll do so in the future, and trust us: it’s a mind-numbing experience.