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
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
It’s all about your creativity and what you come across. You could shoot some cool looking signs in your neighborhood or capture the emotion of someone reading a heartfelt greeting card.
This week’s challenge is more about getting the feel of the story than anything else – like the sheer happiness of reading a college admission acceptance letter or contemplating wabi-sabi in an abandoned carnival sign.
Capturing emotion in an old-school task of penning one’s thoughts to paper is about patience and composure – your own as well as that of your subject. So, just breathe and take a think about what it is you want your viewer to see through not just your eyes but also your subject’s.
Getting typography shots isn’t something you might have thought of shooting earlier , but here’s your chance to try something new. Look out for cool and funky letters and fonts that are worth a dekko – you never know what you’ll find unless you start looking.
Here are some letter I’ve picked either this week, some from further back. My Signature is letters?? so I added it here. This weeks fresh letters are from the circus and I decided to go with the one with the first shot. I would have loved to use some of the older ones, but that would be cheating. So
This week it’s One Light Source. I’m talking directional light – your subject ought to be lit by light coming from a single source – think speedlight or a shaft of sunlight coming through half drawn curtains. It’s the light source and direction that you need to think of first, before you set up your subject and decide on a composition.
This challenge is all about reminding ourselves of what it takes to paint with light – directional light need not be a harsh burst to produce sharp shadows. You can arrange for soft light to come through for a more pleasing look as well.
Look to place light at angles you’d normally not think of – a full side profile or light streaming down from a bare bulb on the ceiling, maybe a night shot illuminated by a neon sign or the perennial favourite of Silhouette Photography – it’s time to be creative and play with the light.
Well, this is what happens every night. My husband reads the latest news before going to sleep. Once again, I had lots of ideas, but ended up taking the easy way out. I was thinking of what to shoot and there it was laying next to me, mobile phone as a light source, so I took my phone and took a shot of a situation I see daily. How more real can you get, a documentary shot. Thanks babe, once again for being a good sport.
I also took a shot with my grandson holding a candle, and match being scratched
Portrait Of A Stranger.
Well, there’s more to it than meets the eye, of course – your location, time of day, and the willingness of a stranger to be kind enough to take some time out of their life to help you (a stranger yourself to them). But there’s magic in a camera – some people just open up when they know they’re the focus of a well-crafted photograph.
There’s creative and technical hurdles here too – one of the more important ones being time – you’ll have far less time to compose and take your photo(s) than you would if you had pre-arranged a shoot. You could grab a candid shot or something more glamorous; go low-key to get a moody and intense look. It’s portraiture after all and the images you can get are as varied as there are humans on the planet.
You’re about to experience a shared moment with someone you’ve never met before.
Please don’t shoot from the hip. Talk to a person. If your palms get sweaty just thinking about it, like me, then go with an easier subject, like your local coffee barista, mailperson, or waiter.
Don’t over think this one, other people are just you in a different rental.
Visiting a nice Italian restaurant in Lahti, I asked our pretty waiter if I could take her photo. She kindly agreed. Haven’t been out much this week as it’sbeen rather rainy, so the chances of taking photos once again happened nearly at the last day. I thought of cropping it to a more portrait, but as it was an at during her work time ,capturing a moment photo, in her busy shift, I wanted it to show the place and to highlight what her job was ,to give context to the shot. Iussed thhe last photo in this post.
TIPS:
Why does black and white photography so often grab our attention more? It’s because we have the ability to create STRONGER elements in our frame, by taking away much of the distraction that often comes with color. It’s simply less “things” for our brains to take in. But more than that, black and white will accentuate just that, so you can create more contrast and light/shadow play within your frame to tell a powerful story.
They evoke stronger emotions by paying greater attention to shadows, contrast and texture – three photographic elements that push good b/w images to become great ones.
Here a photos I am considering as one of my shots for BW entry. What I am trying to bring to focus in these shots are natural, age positive, emotion. My husband is a good sport as he is always ready to pose.
Any suggestions, idea, what do you think, can you find the elements of a good black and white shot in these.
Life is funny, I posted couple days ago old photos, for some reason I added a photo of my uncle in the post, even if the post mainly was about my mum and her sisters.
The next day my uncle passed away at the age of 94. He went to be with his wife of over 55 years, he missed her so much after her passing few years back. I took these portraits of them four years ago.
As in previous post about faces – well people. I started today to look at some old photographs, the first set is my mum and her twin sister. Next my parents and the last two are of my aunt and uncle( my mother’s other sister and her husband) Well this a memories of people passed.
The dreaded photographer’s block. I,ve had it. I have it now, sort of, As one is mostly at home.
You sit on your couch, you look at your beautiful gear, and you just don’t feel it. You can’t think of anything worth shooting. Nothing takes you.
It’s frustrating as hell. An empty feeling.
At this i take a look at archives and edit old photos that I have discarded previously, with my new found editing skills I am able to breathe new life to them. Maybe this will get me going.
Mostly I have taken photos of my grandchildren, when they let me.
I took photos of this girl, she posed next to a graffiti in Wynwood walls, I tried several editing ways. What do you think, which one works?
like this message I received 🙂 Now I need some good luck!
106395 submissions and
The ViewBug team has chosen one of your B&W images for inclusion in our Black & White Masterpieces photo contest! We considered many factors when choosing images, and we thought your image was perfect.
I was taking photo on the street and this girls dad came and asked if I’d take a photo of her daughter. I was ever so happy to take a photo of this sweet girl. I am so into monochrome photos, that I like that one better. How do you see it?
I have few more black and white portraits that I want to share at this point.
Here is a young boy looking rather anxious.
This little girl got tired at shopping and fell a sleep on her mothers shoulder. So adorable. I did two version of this. I prefer the first, softer one…sleep – soft?
I love taking photos of people. I try to capture a moment in the photo, A true feeling, not a plastic smile. I say this woman sitting and taking in the life around her – and took the shot. Black and white portraits are something I really enjoy. I have here the original photo in color and this final version. Do you agree with me that the BW has more magic in it?
I have here also the original photo, color crop, and first version in BW…what speaks to you the most, please let me know.
This portrait of an old woman at Maposa Market in Goa id my entry for
The weekend in Black and White
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography 