more b & w

Just playing with some back lighting to see what kind of sparkle I could make.

Might not look like much, but when I first saw this I was wondering who the hell wrote on my kitchen counter! The sunlight reflecting off the "cream top" reflected the negative image of a shadow. Now I look at it and scratch my head, but at the time it seemed interesting.

Spent too many days indoor this month. This pic, plus the one below, are of a project using tumbled stone beads and a bit of copper wire. Playing with shadows of the wire above I wanted to create layers... and below, I think I was just playing with the lack of contrast between the beads and the background. The contrast is only in the shadows created by the beads and there's even some light in those shadows.

True confession: all this months photos are digital. I had hoped to work with film photography, and did, but didn't develop the roll in time. Next month's goal: film photography with continued focus on exposure and lighting!

Black & White

For the first time since we started this game, I think I might have had a month where I accomplished at least some of what I set out to do. The first three pictures were taken intentionally for my black & white month. I have found I am trying to pay more attention to exposure and lighting and in some pics had some success, others not so much. I realize that the black and white images really start to show when I am not paying attention to light and focusing more on the subject or composition. I guess that is the idea of them, but clearly I still need to work at it!

I actually took the picture below last month when I was in Guatemala, but when I realized this month how little I pay attention to lighting I decided that I wanted to include this one. I was paying attention to the lighting and the composition at the same time when I took it, so I wanted to show I was capable. Still more luck than skill, but I am happy to say I am pleased with this one!

I read a photography book this month and one of the techniques mentioned was 'panning'. While I was waiting for Kelly one day I decided to be a creeper and practice my panning technique on the cars that were winging by on the nearby street. Turns out it is a lot harder than I anticipated (as usual). I really liked this one, so even though it doesn't fit in with my black & white theme for the month, I wanted to show my success!

Portraits?

I started the month off with wonderful intentions of working on studio portrait techniques, but right away found myself distracted by other variations on the subject matter. It started with my brilliant idea to do a self-portrait since I didn't have another willing body around at the exact moment I decided to start my monthly challenge. As usual, this idea turned out to be more complicated than I had originally anticipated. There was lots of leaping up, spinning dials, then trying to reposition myself to make the picture look natural. I won't confess how many pictures I took before I managed to find a passable one, but I did learn a lot in the process! I continued with the same idea, candid 'portraits' of others in my family, using the various manual settings. Luckily this time my subject matter were distracted by the superbowl and willing to sit for long stretches while I futzed with all the dials on my camera. Again, MANY attempts later, I got a few that were decent.

I was on a roll, even if I was not exactly following my initial plan. I decided I would devote the rest of the month to my original premise of 'studio portraits'. Then I went away to Central America. Once again, I got distracted and went way off track. I guess you could say I worked more on 'public' portraits...

So in the end I did do some form of portrait work, though it was not the kind I had planned at the beginning of the month. As I continue to explore with my camera, I am amazed by how much I still have to learn! I think I am going to have to revisit this technique in the future as once again, I feel as if I haven't even scratched the surface.... perhaps next time I will actually manage to work on 'studio' portraits?!