I was challenged recently to post black and white photographs for seven days running. I started to think about what would look good in black and white - or more precisely - black white and greys. I grew up with black and white photographs and they highlight different aspects of an image. The keyboard was too obviously black and white and I needed to find something to photograph that would work in grey tones.
A church nearby provided the next photograph. I think this allows us to see a bit more of the texture of the stonework.
Day 3 - I looked for strong lines. No need for colour when the emphasis is on the geometry of the photograph.
What else would look good in black and white - these reflections caught my eye - they were less about colour than form.
I found myself testing out the black and white transformation on my phone or in my camera to see if an image would work. You need a fair amount of contrast and not too much texture around the image. For that reason I felt this photograph did not work as well. The busy background texture-wise took away from the main part of the composition. I took a number of photos on my walk that day - it helped me understand the need for contrast and simplicity when shooting black and white.
While I like the look of the buildings, I am less happy with the composition. I took this while on a walk and did not take enough time to get the balance of buildings and sky right. But they will be there for another attempt. Also - a cloud-filled sky might have added interest - the weather was not cooperative in that respect!
This was a tough one. I wanted to focus on the texture - the bark and the squirrel but the squirrel was positioned in a way that he was against a dark background, but there was also a bright background near its tail. As a result the white is clipped.
I'll stick to colour for a while - but this has made me think about when and how I want to try more black and white shooting.
