Black & White Photography – Ritva Sillanmäki Photography

Monochrome Madness – flowers

The Monochrome Madness challenge from 2014 holds a place in my memory. It was a wonderfully coordinated endeavor, involving the talents of Leanne and Laura. I recall that the images were sent by email and Leanne coordinated the post. That is a lot of work to do. Reflecting on the past, I recall participating in that engaging challenge, and it feels like it happened just yesterday.

Considering the present, as we embrace a non-theme week, I’m inspired to delve into my archives and unearth some of my black and white images captured during that same period in 2014. Following in the footsteps of Leanne, I’m focusing my lens on the enchanting subject of flowers. It’s fun to ponder how I’ve evolved and honed my skills as a photographer and editor since then. While there’s always room for growth, I can’t help but feel that I have improved a little bit since then

As always all photos can be enlarged by a click.

Posted for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Monochrome Madness #6 – Everyday Objects

Black and White photos, Still life

So this is posted for Sarah of Travels with Me, who’s prompted this week’s challenge for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness. The first three I took this morning after I saw the topic. Tinka was just having a sip of water, while I was having my morning coffee. I thought I’d cook something with pasta today so I’ll have to choose witch pasta to use. I came to my study and thought that should I apply some makeup on, or not 😀 Probably not.

I mean, those are okay shots or do I have anything in my archives I could post. Off course I have, so I found few and convert them to monochrome . As always, all the images can be enlarged by clicking on them even if in a gallery.

a canvas for the imagination

Black and White photos, Captures from Finland

The Veil of Morning Fog

As the sun timidly rises, it casts a soft glow upon the rolling hills, shrouded in a delicate veil of morning fog. The mist clings to the rugged peaks, blurring their edges and lending an ethereal quality to the scene. It’s as if the hills themselves are reluctant to reveal their secrets.

A narrow trail winds through the landscape, disappearing into the mist. Perhaps it was once a well-trodden route, but now it lies almost forgotten.

Here, silence reigns supreme. The only sounds are the occasional cry of a bird. Even the wind seems to hold its breath, respecting the stillness of this beautiful place.

Street photography – cafe

Black and White photos, Photography, street photography

I am going to post images new and old of this genre in this new topic name. Shortly described below as what I want to convey in this photos.

Helsinki at night – looking into a cafe seeing people enjoying the company of friends.

Street photography captures candid moments of daily life in public spaces. From bustling city streets to quiet suburban neighborhoods, we try to document the raw and unscripted moments that unfold around us. With an emphasis on capturing the essence of a scene or the emotions of the people within it, street photography offers a glimpse into the beauty and diversity of the world we inhabit. Whether it’s a fleeting expression, a captivating composition, or an unexpected juxtaposition, street photography celebrates the beauty and intrigue found in everyday moments.

Monochrome – the honeydew

Black and White photos

The honeydew mushrooms with nice bokeh background, I m happy how I was able to capture the texture especially in the first shot. Also the change of the gray tone has an effect on the outcome of the mood.

I love black and white photography – or monochrome, what evet we wish to call it. So under this Monochrome title I will try to post regularly images that I think look good in this format. Hope you enjoy them.

Posted for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Monochrome – take time to read

Black and White photos

Here are some images from the library, one could assume that people would be reading books, but most seemed to have a phone in their hands.

What is reading but silent conversation? Walter Savage Landor

A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one. George R.R. Martin

Posted for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Monochrome – gravel roads

Black and White photos

The road may be beautiful or ugly; it may be easy or hard, smooth or rough, it doesn’t matter; what matters most is where the road will take you!

Mehmet Murat ildan

Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence. Lin Yutang

Posted for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Monochrome – Stairs

Black and White photos

It’s like climbing a staircase. I’m on the top of the staircase, I look behind me and I see the steps. That’s where I was.

Jeanne Moreau

The world is like a grand staircase, some are going up and some are going down.
Samuel Johnson

“No amount of smiling at a flight of stairs has ever made it turn into a ramp.”

~ Stella Young

Mid-Week Monochrome ~ water

Black and White photos

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.

Drinking water is like washing out your insides. The water will cleanse the system, fill you up, decrease your caloric load and improve the function of all your tissues. – Kevin R. Stone

Posted for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Mid-Week Monochrome ~ cookery

Black and White photos

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.

The greatest dishes are very simple. – Auguste Escoffier

Cooking is like painting or writing a song. Just as there are only so many notes or colors, there are only so many flavors – it’s how you combine them that sets you apart. -Wolfgang Puck

Posted for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Mid-Week Monochrome ~ alley

Black and White photos

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.

We plan our lives in long, unbroken stretches that intersect our dreams the way highways connect the city dots on a road map. But in the end we learn that life is lived in the side roads, alleys, and detours.

Richard Paul Evans

Inspiration comes from not only within ourselves, but also from watching life around us. Anthony – T. Hincks

Mid-Week Monochrome #128-1

Black and White photos

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.

Inspiration comes from not only within ourselves, but also from watching life around us. Anthony – T. Hincks

It doesn’t seem to matter, the time of day, watching people walking by always puts a smile on my face.

Posted for Bren’s Midweek Monochrome and Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Mid-Week Monochrome #127-1

Black and White photos

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.

Classy women never lose their dignity.
“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. – Dorothy Nevill

Posted for Bren’s Midweek Monochrome and Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Mid-week Monochrome #126-1

Black and White photos

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.

Roses are beautiful even in monochrome

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Take time to smell the roses.

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome and for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness Challenge

Mid-week Monochrome #129

Black and White photos

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.

“It is life, I think, to watch the water. A man can learn so many things.”

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.”

“If there are ripples on the surface of a lake, we cannot see the depth. Similarly unless the mind is restful, we cannot experience the harmony and union within us.” – Sri Ravi Shankar

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome and for Leanne’s Monochrome Madness Challenge

Mid-week Monochrome #128

Black and White photos, People

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.

For the last six days my son was visiting with the youngest of our grandsons, so I have not been very active here, as there was someone wanting attention. An so much more cooking to do than normally.

I did get a chance to get some photographs taken, as I had a lovelu and cute boy to aim my camera to. After the first time, he said to me: Mummi, if these are not good we can take more tomorrow. (Mummi – grandma in Finnish)

and we did the light in my bedroom was better than the the ones I took in the living room. He is a good sport, and a real pro in front of the camera. After some shot he would say to me, let me see? and came to look at the shots on the camera. I am not going to post all of them the first time I took 90 frames and second time 125 frames. Most of them are OK.

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”

Compare the color version versus the black and white one.

This last one was from the first time, we took in the evening and the light was low

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome

Mid-week Monochrome #127

Black and White photos, People

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.

Not finding the book you want? I had just done my civil duty at the library, voted. I sat waiting for my husband to lend some books.

I liked the line of the windows and the shelves making a leading line. So I set the camera -phone to the floor level and took this photo of three people, they seemed to be nicely situated in also in this lowpoint photo. I also got a shot of the person sitting by the desk reading.

“The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say.” ~ Gregory Maguire

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”

Compare to edit, color versus black and white version. But I also with the shadows.

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome

Mid-week Monochrome #126

Black and White photos, Captures from Finland

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.

Light continues tobe the theme, as it is the thing that uplifts me the most at the moment. I posted yesterday shots of advancing sping yesterday. Today it is raining, slush and snow. Well they do say, new snow is the death of old snow this time of the year. Today I converted few into monochrome images.

“The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say.” ~ Gregory Maguire

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”

Compare to edit, color versus black and white version. But I also with the shadows…

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome

Mid-week Monochrome #125

Black and White photos, People

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, it is expressive and minimalist in and very mood enhancing.

This is my week choice – light from above

“The eye is always caught by light, but shadows have more to say.” ~ Gregory Maguire

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome and Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Mid-week Monochrome #124

Black and White photos, People

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, I also have a sweet spot for tmy grandkids. I can sit for hours and I watch them play and fight…no thats not true, I cannot watch them fight 🙂 I end up telling them to stop.

They are lively and to get them to sit down and giving me a chance to get a photograph of them is not that easy. This time I did not give them an opportunity to refuse. I sat them by thhe window so I could use the natural light and get nice contrast and shadows, Then I edited them in this moody way, I know childrens photos are not usually edited this way, but I liked them. What do you think?

“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome and Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Mid-week Monochrome #123

Black and White photos, Landscapes

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, I also have a sweet spot for the ocean and waves. I can sit for hours and I watch the movement of of the water.

As I have been editing my beach photos lately, I did try to convert them to black and white, and I believe that the beauty and power of the moving water even without the colors comes across. Here are few photos from Ocean Ridge beach.

seagulls at the beach

“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome and Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Mid-week Monochrome #122

Black and White photos, Cities

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, I was once again reminded about the importance of exposure, light. It is the key element in these photos.

This house in the corner of the street in Savannah appealed to me, with its tall arched windows and ornate ironwork balconies and fences. The peeling paint gives it a artitic feel that looks great in photos, well that’s my opinion anyway:-) With this first edit I tried to capture a old time feel to it. The two others are more clear and crisp with slightly different composition.

A house in Savanah – Black and white photography erases time from the equation.

“There’s something strange and powerful about black-and-white imagery.”

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome and Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Beautiful in Black and White 15

Black and White photos, People

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, I was once again reminded about the importance of exposure, light. It is the key element in these photos.

There’s so much grey to every story – nothing is so black and white.

Lisa Ling

A man with a white beard

The way that light hits objects, I think, is one of the more important things that sculpture and photography share. – Rashid Johnson

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome and Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Beautiful in Black and White 14

Black and White photos, Captures from Finland

I took several winter wonderland photos last week, so I thought I’d try them as monochrome. Misty fields and snow-covered
roads with trees heavy with snow surrounding it. This is how they turned out.

It is nearly Christmas, and I hope that
these winter shots will help you to get into white Christmas spirit.

The way that light hits objects, I think, is one of the more important things that sculpture and photography share. – Rashid Johnson

Spruce trees by the side of the snowy road

Beautiful in Black and White 13

Black and White photos, Flowers

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, I was once again reminded about the importance of exposure, light. It is the key element in these photos.

Roses, they look lovely in black and white

The way that light hits objects, I think, is one of the more important things that sculpture and photography share. – Rashid Johnson

Posted for Bren’s Mid-Week Monochrome and Leanne’s Monochrome Madness

Beautiful in Black and White 12

Black and White photos, Traveling Australia

I have a soft spot for black and white photography, I was once again reminded about the importance of exposure, light. It is the key element in these photos.