It has been rainy for a few days, and since I also feel restricted by lockdown, I have taken to re-editing old photos. Mainly, since this is April, I have been opening April files from other years. I found significant local flooding just two years ago, which I put in our local FB as a reminder, but I didn't reprocess them. Then, I came to a folder from way back in 2015. We were at the cottage with our in-laws. The ladies went out for the day, so my brother-in-law and I hit the rural roads with our cameras.
On a very rural road at the far end of a property, we saw a truck embedded in the Precambrian rock. There is also a bicycle on a ledge (look to the left) and a tricycle below at ground level along with some Christmas decorations. The original photo was vertical and covered a lot more area from bottom to top. I cropped deeply and converted to b&w. In this case, I think monochrome allowed me to emphasize the textures better.
Later along the same road, I took this detail photo of a rusty latch on an old shed. In the new edit, I opted to render the background boards to b&w but left the colour in the latch, I also cropped this one but not nearly so much. I had the latch more centered in the original but cropped a bit off the top and right to get it into this offset position which I find more pleasing.
Finally, for today anyway, I converted a photo of a disused Community Centre into b&w and also cropped some from the left as there were just more trees over there, and I wanted to bring greater focus to the building. I love the result. Oh . . . I almost forgot to mention that I swapped the sky which was just a solid blue in the original version. I just wanted a little more interest up there. I had almost forgotten that I had done this.
Not so very long ago, I had no inkling that I would become so interested in b&w photography, but I have been finding that I can often push the editing more than I can in colour and focus , and at least sometimes draw greater attention to where I want it to go. I have been enjoying the process.
All three of these photos have been cropped in the re-editing: the first one of the truck in the rock especially. I like to think that these six years later my vision in-camera has improved and that I would now take photos that would require less cropping afterward. However, although one can sometimes crop in camera, it is less natural and takes extra steps because the camera defaults to a traditional 4x6 format, like you see in postcards.
We both took many images that day, and I most certainly liked a lot of them and how I edited them six years ago, and I see no need to re-edit them. But going back to then from now, gave me a different perspective on some of them.
Largely for my own benefit, here are a few links to blog posts from back then. Both of these posts centered on photos of a single piece of heavy machinery that we came across elsewhere on the same road.
I was really surprised to discover that I made a slideshow of the machinery photos and actually went as far as including a soundtrack: The Champion in a Slideshow.
15 comments:
It is pretty cool that you can convert to black and white. I don't know how to do that.
Super B&W compositions...though on my screen they are a bit dark. Probably just my monitor. I remember my one photo class in college where we used F-400 film and developed everything in the dark room, and used an enlarger, learning how to highlight different areas of a print. The teachers hung wonderful B&W photos in the gallery.
You do some amazing things with digital photos. My son in law is into b & w photography but the old way and something to do with silver. He's hoping to set up a dark room in his basement.
First: The one with the snowman, bike, and truck becomes all one from my perspective. Everything looks the same....darn it, the same textures and the same values. The other's are wonderful.
@Mage: Yeah. I posted the wrong one. I have one with more complexity. Oh well.
You really make photography interesting even to us that are not picture takers.
Yes,I agree ... we are old blogger buddies. I see you started in 2004 and I got on board 2 years later. I've loved watching your grandchildren grow and to go along on so many ventures and to learn about your Fiddling ! All the best to you and let's keep on keeping on!
I love the one with the latch. I think it not being centered makes more sense too, as latches tend to be on the side of doors/windows.
Black and white photos always engender more feeling in me than color. Perhaps thought is a more accurate description. With color, I'm more focused on that, instead of the composition and subject of the shot.
Techie score points on the video. I like the rusty latch. Techie score points there, plus about a 9 point something on the artistic value.
Um, I seem to be in a mood. Maybe it was the music on the machinery video. Or maybe it is the [censored] lockdown. However, I have two masks that do not pull off my hearing aids when I take them off, washable masks, with filter. I guess that is something.
I am taking photos of my husband's exercise bike. Multiple tries to get the damn thing right. And then I have to look at your tour de force. Inferiority complex about to bloom.
I like these edits.
I really love the latch, and the old house with the gloomy sky is exceptional! Thanks for taking the time to make these for your fans to enjoy. :-)
Love the picture of the old door latch.
Love the photo of the rusty latch.
Th. I think black and white photos allow the details of a picture to really stand out. The latch is very cool.
You're now making me curious about doing black and whites with Photoshop. Hmmmm... OK, I'll try it.
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