Black and White, Four Ways

The Point-Shoot-Click challenge this week is to shoot black and white, which is my favourite medium. It forces a photographer to think in stronger contrasts, to focus on the details, to know how light works and to really know in her head what she is wanting to acheive in a photograph. I wanted to take on this challenge by illustrating the possibility of black and white in four ways:

1) 19th century daguerreotype style--I went for a softer focus close-up and adjusted the contrasts digitally in Photoshop.

Hands of a Toddler
(directional natural light, f 4.0, ISO 400, greyscale gradient added digitally)

2) casual portrait--this one has a softer sepia on it which will always make this type of portrait timeless.

Thirst
(directional natural light, f 3.2, ISO 400, custom sepia added digitally)

3) modern style--to show how black and white can be used alongside colour to add drama, something that was possible before digital but definitely easier with Photoshop!

Wine by Moonlight
(available light, ss 1 second, f 3.2, grayscale gradient and recolour overlay added digitally)

4) contrast detail--black and white can effectively showcase contrasts and directional, natural light.

Isabel's Toes
(directional natural light, ISO 200, f 2.8, digitally resized and grayscaled)

RAKfile Layouts, August

I love designing for the RAKfile, RAKscraps's monthly newsletter (freebies enclosed, as always), because it is guaranteed to make me stretch way out of my box. This month was no exception and with its release today, I am now able to feature them here too (one layout credited to me wasn't mine so my original is here!)


Credits: Trish Jones's "Love That Boy" kit.

Credits: Hank's Kit and Grass kits from WetFish Designs

Tomatoes On a Ledge

Plum tomatoes from my garden ripening on my kitchen window sill.

Laugh Like No One is Watching

This is my most recent RAKscraps sponsor team layout. The back story is that my daughter was at a friend's house and got upset when her friend went outside to play with some neighbourhood friends because she was nervous about meeting the new people. They all tried really hard to make her feel welcomed into the group and after some coaxing she finally caved. The result: she had a blast! So, this layout is dedicated to her, for perservering!

Credits: Crush Bubbles and Texture Strips Digital Kits by Trish Jones

New Camera Experiment

For anyone who is starting into digital photography and does not want to invest in the current camera that everyone from amateurs to pros is hoping to have, the Canon Rebel, there are midrange options that are point and shoot friendly while still offering the flexibility for more artistic exploration. When I recently lost a digital camera and had to shop for a new one, the Rebel was on my wish list but there it had to stay so what to buy instead? I went back to my film photography roots and sourced out a Panasonic: what sold me was the Leica lens and the price tag, around $500 Canadian. When I took it out for its first night shooting, I was very pleasantly surprised at how manual I could go with it and how I could shoot photos like this one. For the die hard digital editors who want to know, yes, it also shoots in RAW. I did not get my wish list Rebel but I certainly got a camera that any serious amateur and even a pro would be happy to work with.

Photo Challenge #1: Backlighting

Backlighting in photography refers to the softening of a subject by the sunlight (or equivalent light source) coming from behind them instead of being directional (i.e. from the top-left, top-right, etc.) It can be a more difficult way to shoot because, especially when the backlighting is stronger, it can have a tendency to "trick" a camera or a meter into darkening the subject, although some photographers will compensate for this by using a fill flash. The effect, no matter what, is worth it because of the natural softness that the effect adds.

backlit flower

So, this first challenge is a tougher one for newcomers to photography and is to shoot a subject in backlighting. Things to watch for are how you place your subject or the position from where you shoot it: remember that the subject's back does not have to be the part that is backlit. The main thing to remember is that shooting backlight means that you are shooting toward/facing the sun or light source.

wedding couple x 2
(Note: this is partially backlit & partially directional but used as an illustraion of how a subject could be placed for backlighting)

Digital Add-on Challenge

Check your software to see if you have a High Pass feature available. In Photoshop, this is found under Filter--> Other. The name of the filter itself is misleading and many will skip over it but take a few minutes to explore it because it is versatile. I have included examples below: the more embossed result came from a lower pixel radius size while the colour alteration result came from the maximum pixel radius.


Thanks for participating. Please take a minute to participate in my poll at the bottom of this page. My first freebie will be coming soon!

Angela~Pinlight