Your Canon Photos No. 16: 20th to 26th August 2023

Hi Digirame,

The Great whites look majestic, I've been out on two walks and still haven't found any Herons. Hopefully this weekend. 😃😃

Yesterday I went out of my way to produce a B/W photo for the first time in over a year, using darktable.
What do y'all think?

Dunlin,

It's good.

The B&W is arresting. I read the other day that black and white photos are timeless.

The lake reflections are a nice touch. I noticed the little cottage on the background.

I don't want to be negative, but it.'s a little too busy for my taste. I would try to simplify things next time. Give the viewer something to focus on.

I'm glad you took this photo though.

Steve Thomas

It's a nice shot with effective composition and wonderful reflections. It works well in B&W, however your image actually isn't fully B&W but still contains some color. I thought I was crazy at first, or that my eyes were just very tired (which can impact perception considerably in my experience) but when I opened it in Photoshop it became obvious that it's not fully converted to B&W.

Here is a B&W version:

Oh... and really great BTW, that you're experimenting with B&W, particularly if it is not your first instinct usually. I've always been somewhat disinterested in anything monochrome and still prefer the color versions in a majority of cases, however

a.) from my experience pretty much anyone can learn A LOT about effective composition, lighting and the effective interplay of lights and shadows by shooting or processing in B&W and
b.) it often gives you an additional appreciation of the "haptic/texture" aspect of things which is naturally not the strongest area of 2D imagery.

Because of that it might enable you to think a little bit differently in future situations if you try it from time to time, regardless, if you end up liking the result better than the color alternative or not.

I'm still very much in the process of learning, but at least I feel like I made a little bit of progress on the way:

Densely populated by simple.joy, on Flickr

Grasping at straw... berries: british petrol! by simple.joy, on Flickr

Life is exuberance by simple.joy, on Flickr

Real swag, no cap by simple.joy, on Flickr

Posi-teeth by simple.joy, on Flickr

Mocha,

Thanks. I hope you find the herons. I was surprised that I did not find more but was glad I found something. Otherwise, I would have been "skunked". 😀

I really like that - excellent shot with great composition and colors!

Thanks for your thoughts Steve, I appreciate the feedback.
To be honest, I didn't actually take this shot with a B/W treatment in mind. I needed B/W entries for the monthly CIC photo challenge, and this was a good candidate.
Thanks again.

Thanks for pointing that our simplejoy, I thought turning all the saturation sliders to zero would do the trick. Apparently not.
I'll make my own true B/W version and post it tomorrow, along with the colour version.

Gracias.

Dunlin,

I like the reflections in the water. I've never been a fan of B&W, but other people like them. I say if you and others like them, I'm all for it. 😀

Dunlin,

Would you post a couple of B&W's done SOOC and not post processed?

You're a good photographer and I'd like to see them.

If you're willing.

Steve Thomas

I've read too that B&W's are more impactful in terms of telling a story, because the viewer is not distracted by color.

I've tried to incorporate that in my thinking.

Steve Thomas

That is one of the reasons I still do love to take analog B/W photos And also the fun with developing with home made developer (Caffenol)

Here's that lake shot, the original (4:3 aspect ratio) colour version and a true B/W version.

@stevet I took a shots for you, sorry they're not more interesting.

They're excellent! You seem to have a very good eye for B&W. 👍

Tomorrow we're driving up to Scotland to see family.
I won't be able to post in our next thread (#17), I may or may not be commenting on others pics (by moblie).

Dunlin.

Thankyou simplejoy.

Have fun in Scotland, where are you going? Highlands or lowlands?

Dundee. That's where the family is.

Dunlin,

Those are great. Thank you.

Steve Thomas

I have not been able to go out more than once this week on account of the heat here, and am looking forward to cooler weather on Monday. However, I got a shift lens and have been experimenting at home. I hope to be out and about with it next week.

But I am pleased to see that others have been holding the fort. Great shots this week!

Dunlin, now in Bonnie Scotland, where it is undoubtedly cool, found a cute young squirrel, who posed for him. He also experimented with B&W. I think that I always associate B&W with pre 1960s photography and I cant take the concept of a very dark grey strawberry! (Sorry, Simplejoy! My loss...). I dabbled in B&W developing and enlarging at high school and one day I must have a go at it again, but I think B&W needs dramatic lighting to be successful (think Bogart movies!). Steve says that color distracts, but I find that B&W does that for me. Dunlin's ciolored version of the trees and the lake was more up my street. As I wrote: my loss!

Mocha was active in nature, successfully catching butterflies and bird.

We also enjoyed all the fun of Digirame's country fair. Away from the bustle, an egret and a heron entertained us.

Steve T was waxing philosophical.

Photobygms continued to show us what The Netherlands looks like. His filter helped also!

Thanks for all your contributions. This is a great group.

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