Sue's daily prompt required an evening photo in black & white. The lady doesn't like prompts that require late-in-the-day fiddling and faddling, but off we went to the neighbourhood park.
I decided to follow suit. When I do present a mono photo on this blog, it is a conversion of a colour photo. This time, however, I set the phone to b&w mode. That enabled me to see the composition in b&w before pressing the shutter button. I did not have to convert when editing; it was already b&w.
What I could see in mono on the screen was the sky looking pretty dramatic. The sky didn't look overly dramatic in colour with my naked eye but it did on the screen, so that is what I emphasized with my shot.
However, apart from the sky, other photo ops were lacking, so we drove to Riverside Park, where, upon entry, I immediately spotted this possibility.
As we entered the park along this path, I could see that people and dogs were coming, so I held the phone and waited for them to walk into the scene. The photo has a leading line with subjects well positioned in the frame.
I took one more photo at Riverside of the boys fishing at the dock, but of course it would have been preferrable for them to be actually casting their lines. I could have waited, but I might have waited in vain, and the mosquitoes were getting somewhat active.
I did fulfill the mission of actually shooting in b&w rather than converting from colour later. One does see the world a little differently in mono, and it was the sky that really popped in some of the photos, more so than it would have on colour.
The sky is dramatic in b&w. The second photo looks like a scene from a 1940s Hitchcock film.
ReplyDeleteI do like b/w. And yes, mine are always conversions now, too. Sometimes I find I like it better, especially with portraits.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good lesson in black and white. I like the photo with the two people walking through the T intersection.
ReplyDeleteI went through a black and white phase in my life, back before digital cameras or computers so I had to just buy the film, take the picture and hope for the best when it came back a week later. My inspiration at the time was Ansel Adams who I still feel is the best black and white photographer to this day.
ReplyDeleteI love the shot with the dog walkers.
ReplyDeleteThere were some great sky photos from Florida, done by the Butcher Brothers - I think I’ve got one of their posters curled up in a tube somewhere. I do love how black and white photos are so artistic!
ReplyDeleteI like the dogs and the boys.
ReplyDeleteLove the sky photo and the dog walkers. They are so dramatic, even in black and white!
ReplyDeleteThanks for braving those (pesky) mosquitoes to tell these stories.
ReplyDeleteBoy, that sky really is dramatic!
ReplyDeleteLovely series.
ReplyDeleteI always think I prefer color till I see your shots. The skies are, indeed, dramatic.
ReplyDeleteI really like your black and white photos.
ReplyDeleteI love that second photo! The detail just pops!
ReplyDeleteThe skies are quite dramatic in B and W.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very large tree on the right of the pathway shot. It might deserve a solo shot?
I liked all of these!
ReplyDeleteDo you think there is more “value” in using B&W mode or in shooting in color and the processing into B&W? In some ways, at least for my DSLR… it was a moot point as looking through the lens would be in color….. but with the phone giving a B&W image allowing perhaps a composition of B&W on the spot….. maybe it is helpful? Or are both methods similar enough for you that you see them as equal?
ReplyDeletePipeTobacco
There is a way to see it in bw right on camera -- at least on the screen and if it's a mirrorless, probably in the viewfinder too. They say it's a good idea, but I haven't tried it enough.
DeleteGood to see you folks enjoying. Shooting in B&W is different than changing a color photo! Very thoughtprovoking
ReplyDeleteI love B&W photography. I grew up shooting in B&W, developing my own film, and then printing in B&W. High school photo classes had dark rooms where you could do all this, so wonderful memories. I wonder what Ansel would say if he were alive today?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures!
ReplyDeleteThese are fabulous black and white photos, John. You have such an amazing eye for photos that tell a story. I do really love that photo of the trail leading up to that dramatic sky.
ReplyDeleteI love how you did the monochrome conversion
ReplyDeleteB&W is so incredible as it erases the noise of color and gives one textures of dark and light.
ReplyDeleteThese all worked out beautifully with composition and light and dark.
I can shoot in B&W with my camera too and when I open the file, I still have to revert it to B&W.
Beautifully done.