shirley - behind the lens: black and white

Showing posts with label black and white. Show all posts

Searching for Light and Dark

>> Saturday, June 29, 2024 – black and white, ferns, high key, Japan House, leaves, macro, shadows

I recently attended an on-line photography seminar run by Two Mann Studios and got inspired to utilize more shadows in my photography. I visited a local Japanese garden and created these images.

Created with my macro lens which I'm using a lot in the garden. Have a great weekend!

Unexpected Snow

>> Sunday, February 9, 2020 – around town, black and white, snow, trees, winter

Past performance drives future expectations and this year's mild winter has lulled us into forgetting that snow normally falls in February. Too often, the media plays up snow's impending arrival with panicked fervor, creating undue hype. Why must every inch of snow require a winter storm warning? It's only snow and not much snow. So when big flakes started falling Friday evening, unannounced, it was met with delight that often accompanies a surprise.
That sense of delight spilled over into Saturday morning, when awaking to the white and bright landscape. Fluffy, flocked branches flanked the roads.

I had to be in town to set up Saturday's scheduled club run and since I'm not running, I walked while the runners ran. I headed to the trails that follow the water ways, nestled away from the main streets. Here, pristine paths begged to be explored.

The only disappointment of the weekend - thick cloud cover precluded the viewing of the full Snow moon Saturday night. Had clear skies prevailed, I planned to venture to the forest preserve for a night hike lit by moonlight. Hopefully next month...

Creating the Story - Importance of the Crop

>> Thursday, February 16, 2017 – architecture, black and white, bride, New York City, photo tips, urban, wedding

I read a recent article on Street photography via PetaPixel on how to make better street photos.

The article reminded me of a photo I took last summer during an impromptu visit to New York City. We were walking around Central park, a bevy of people and activity all around us. We paused at the Bethesda Fountain, as it was clear to me it was a significant landmark in the park.

The photo above was taken with my "big camera". The shot is just "OK" in my opinion. What story does it tell? Like most summer afternoons, it was crowded at the fountain. Yawn, just another day...

As we explored the area around the fountain, I stumbled across what looked to be a wedding photo shoot. Or maybe it was a magazine photo shoot. I mused to myself "this feels special and unique to everything else I have seen today", and I quickly snapped a photo on my phone. I didn't have time to get out my big camera before the scene dissipated into the crowds. (It felt apparent that the bride wasn't happy with the throngs of people around.)

Here's the original photo I took of that scene:

Yeah, not so impressive. I didn't get myself close enough to the scene, there's that woman to the right creating visual clutter, and the exposure is too dark. But instead of hitting the garbage can icon, I decided to crop it in. My focus was of the bride and her groom, patiently waiting in the wings and the archway framing the bride. I converted it to Black and White to play up the groom's silhouette as the original photo was too dark to get any details. I did these edits right in my phone, using the Instagram app.

The final edit:

With all the extra "stuff" gone, the scene is focused and I want to know more about this couple's story.

Don't be afraid to crop away to bring emphasis to the story you want to tell.

Class of 2016 - Senior Evan

>> Thursday, April 28, 2016 – black and white, Class of 2016, portraits, senior, Teen Age Life

I first met Evan at a Cross Country banquet - when he was in middle school. He's still running and plans to continue in college, at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

I'm friends with Evan's mother and she prefers black and white photos, so I converted the ones she liked.
This one is also a favorite of mine, and happened to be one of the last photos of the day, when I could tell he was tiring of the whole posing / smiling process (that modeling thing is hard work!). I loved the how the light was catching in his eyes, so I took "just a few more". Evan was so polite through all my crazy requests!

Some photography details:
Shot with my Nikon D600 DSLR with a 70-200mm f/4 zoom lens, aperture set to f4 for all the photos. I have been using this set up for all of the portraits I have been taking over the last 3 years. I get great depth of field and nice bokeh. Post processing done in Lightroom 5.

Black And White on the Prairie

>> Wednesday, January 13, 2016 – black and white, grass, prairie

More prairie grass, wind blown and swept to the ground.

Thanks for all of your comments here and on Facebook. They are so appreciated.

A Life is so fulfilled as it is met with Love

Black and White Wednesday - Skeletal

>> Wednesday, June 17, 2015 – black and white, wildflowers

It's time for a photography challenge - to exercise my creativity. Fellow blogger, Nicki at Bended Road Photography, posts a black and white photo on Wednesdays and I'm a member of a Black and White photography group on Facebook, which is hosted by Susan Licht. So black and white challenge on Wednesdays it is.

I personally find it hard to visualize in black and white. One can't simply convert any photo to monotone and call it done. Some scenes don't work in black and white, while others are completely transformed. Therein lies the challenge.

When I shot this, I knew the final image would be black and white.

A Skeleton of My Former Self

Shared with Black and White Wednesday

Standout

>> Thursday, February 19, 2015 – 'poetry', around town, black and white

I'm nothing more
than who I choose to be
I will stand tall
I will be free

Black and White Days - Sun Salutation

>> Monday, October 20, 2014 – around town, black and white, iPhone

Sunday morning's mixture of sun and fog made for an ethereal drive across town.

Disclosure - I was driving to the grocery store, but even the mundane tasks of life can be filled with beauty.

Taken with my iPhone 4s camera and converted to black and white via Instagram.

[I plan to upgrade my 3 year old iPhone next week - I am mostly excited about the new phone's camera!]

Happy Monday!

Black and White Days - The Diner

>> Thursday, October 16, 2014 – around town, black and white, restaurant

I like repetition. Repetition is just so darn orderly. Seemingly in control.

...start of Random Interlude - I admit to having control issues. Constantly working on it (let go, that is). end of Random Interlude...

So I snapped this because I liked the light fixtures above the booths. Yeah, that's probably not too apparent - I did the best I could given my short stature.

Photo taken at a local downtown diner. Every college town requires a 24 hour diner - where else can you get chili cheese fries at 2am after the bars close?

Not that I would know!

wink

Black and White Days

>> Wednesday, October 15, 2014 – black and white, Caesar, equestrian, Girl, horse, horse show, Horse Wednesday

I was challenged by my friend (who happens to be a runner / photographer / creative soul like me), Kyla to a five day Black and White Challenge. So we're going black and white for the next five days.

Here's a classic horse shot, from my daughter's last show of the season:

The great thing about black and white conversions - it takes away all those distracting colored items in the background (in this case, the porta potty is less obvious). Good to know, right?

I still find it hard to determine which shots look good in black and white. I think this one works because it's a simple photo to begin with. Caesar is a great horse to convert to black and white due to his variegated coloring.

More black and white to come!

We're Marching On

>> Wednesday, September 17, 2014 – black and white, high school, marching band

A little bit of Black and White this Wednesday:

Throwback Thursday - Bereft

>> Thursday, February 27, 2014 – black and white, throwback

Where had I heard this wind before
Change like this to a deeper roar?
What would it take my standing there for,
Holding open a restive door,
Looking down hill to a frothy shore?

Summer was past and the day was past.
Sombre clouds in the west were massed.
Out on the porch's sagging floor,
Leaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly struck at my knee and missed.
Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret must be known:

Word I was in the house alone
Somehow must have gotten abroad,
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God.

Bereft by Robert Frost

Fog in Black and White

>> Sunday, February 2, 2014 – around town, black and white, fog, trees

Photos from yesterday's rain and fog.

Driving back from a campus event, the fog surrounding the Arboretum grounds caught my eye. I pulled into the empty parking lot and held a five minute photo shoot.

Welcome to February in the never-ending winter of 2014.

Blossom White

>> Thursday, April 25, 2013 – black and white, flowers, seasons, trees, white

Slowly, the spring blooms are starting to emerge. I might even classify that they are tentatively emerging, with continued cooler temperatures we are experiencing, but spring is starting to reveal herself.

I'm disclosing that I took this photo while standing in a parking lot, behind a row of cars. I wish I took it while enjoying a peaceful walk in the woods, but I take what I can get. It just illustrates that beauty is all around us.

Same tree, different processing - a bit of a sepia, monotone effect:

A couple days ago, I post photos of my neighbor's redbud tree. This one is the same species of tree, but it has white flowers, something I've never seen before.

Have you ever seen a white flowering redbud? I wonder if they are considered rare.

Sharing with Mary and her Thursday Inspiration where this week's theme is trees

Ice Haiku

>> Tuesday, January 15, 2013 – 'poetry', black and white, bokeh, branches, ice

ice barely noticed
until the golden sun shone
transformed to glitter

ice abounds, hanging
shimmering in the sunlight
delicate beauty

lucky to see you
luckier to capture you
twinkle ice shining

SweetShotTuesday
P52 with Tamar and Gina

Cold Winter

>> Sunday, January 6, 2013 – black and white, ice, seasons, Topaz Adjust

Ice, that once was snow:

Remnants of the salt used to melt that snow and ice, now crystallized on the garage floor:

And the winter sky as I was running Saturday morning - does it look chilly? Believe me, it was!

Sharing with Simple Things Sunday and Sunday Snapshot

In the Graveyard

>> Wednesday, October 31, 2012 – black and white, holidays

At first cock-crow the ghosts must go
Back to their quiet graves below. -Theodosia Garrison

Playing with Topaz Adjust

>> Monday, July 9, 2012 – black and white, Topaz Adjust

I've owned Topaz Adjust for over a year, but don't use it nearly enough. When Clueless in Boston suggested a Black and White Treatment for this photo, I decided to see what Topaz Adjust could do.

First I applied the Lightroom Antique preset:

Then I brought it into Topaz Adjust and used an HDR preset, which gave the bubbles a little more 'Pop':

I couldn't stop with just one photo, so here are two more:

These two couldn't stop nipping at each other....

And it was way too hot to sit outside to eat.

Fortunately, the temperatures have cooled off and we received some much needed rain! I hope you have a great day.

Seeing the Details

>> Friday, May 11, 2012 – black and white, flowers, seasons

I was inspired by the collection of black and white Spring photos shared over at Mortal Muses today. Devoid of the usual burst of color we come to associate with Spring, I was drawn to the details instead.

My simple contribution to Spring in Black and White. I hope to take more of these in my future.

Edited to add more black and white photos I took this Spring:

Another Day in the Country #horse #blackandwhite #stable

In [mostly] Black and White

>> Friday, March 30, 2012 – black and white, challenges, iPhone, selfie

It's the last Friday of March, aka the month that flew by so fast, I don't hardly remember it all!

Black and white was this month's [in the picture] challenge and I enjoyed it so much that I took more than my target four photos. Note - all of this month's selfies were taken with the iPhone4s and processed with various iPhone apps.

I was inspired by one of Christy's Instagram shots so I tried it myself. It's not a true black and white, but more like a bleach process.

After several weeks' absence from church, my knee was finally healed enough for me to attend worship service. I took this photo because I was so moved by my experience that day - I really missed the singing.

Right after the switch to daylight savings time and we are enjoying the afternoon sun.

Playing around with the self timer. The first time I got slightly dressed up since my knee surgery, aka I'm wearing jeans instead of sweatpants and a nice sweater instead of a sweatshirt. Later that night, I went out to dinner with friends.

This one is a favorite of mine, mainly because there's a ton going on in this shot. I'm in a cornfield and I have my leg brace on. My daughter's horse is coming up behind me at a good clip and I'm oblivious to it all.

More photos from that day in the field.

In this shot, I had picked up my daugher from soccer practice and I'm really hungry, but she really wanted some ice cream from the Walgreens. So I'm waiting for her in the car. The kicker - she didn't read the label on the ice cream and when we arrived home, she declared that she wasn't going to eat it. Teens.....

A reflection photo from Tuesday, which was a super busy day - PT before work, violin lessons, soccer games and baseball practice. The chaos of spring has started!

That's a wrap for March. If you want more details on getting [in the picture], check out Christy's blog - she even has a great giveaway today.