Ready for some fun, creativity, and to perhaps to learn something new? It’s time for a new Technique Challenge! So what is a Technique Challenge you ask? The host challenger selects a specific technique to try. The technique may be brand new for some or just a challenge to be creative or practice for others. Techniques may include high/low key, macro, portraits, landscapes, abstracts - the possibilities are endless. It could even be specific techniques in processing. The host is the photographer who won the last challenge.
I was honored to win Technique Challenge 17 “Shaped Bokeh” and will be the next challenge host. Congratulations to the other “Shaped Bokeh” finalists and many thanks to Jule @justapark for hosting! Now it’s time to move on to the challenge…
MY CHALLENGE:
With so many new members on the site, it seems like the perfect time to get back to basics. Thus, my choice for the Technique Challenge is Black and White Photography.
Black and White Photography is as old as photography itself. It's the starting point for every photography student. Why, it's simply a classic!
“Black & white photography is about the black, the white, and all the tones in between. The human eye is built to pick up two things: light intensity and color. When you remove the color, your eyes become more sensitive to the light intensity. We naturally pick out areas of contrast — it’s how we distinguish one thing from another. As a black & white photographer, your main objective is to make your point with shades of gray. Use contrast to show your onlookers what’s important and what’s not. Seek out scenes that naturally show signs of high contrast, and your black & white photos will be more compelling right from the start.” blogepicedits.com
Here are some online resources to help you create successful B&W images:
All subjects are welcome - portrait, landscape, architecture, documentary… your choice! You can enter as many times as you would like.
The challenge will run from January 7th-14th. Voting will take place from January 15th-17th with the winner announced January 18th. All photos must be taken within the challenge dates.
Please tag your entries ‘TECHNIQUE18’
Constructive & kind feedback is encouraged. Feel free to share tips, suggestions or how you were able to get the terrific photo you did. Posting your photo on this thread is encouraged but not required.
To post a photo on this thread:
1) Go to your page that has the photo you would like to post.
2) Find the code located toward the bottom right side of your page. The code is on the right side of the word "share".
This was my first time taking black and white photos since I was young and I used black and white film in my box brownie camera. I was fascinated by the clouds.
One of the fun things about black and white digital conversions is to play the with greyscale mix. You are not limited to the tones that the camera "saw" when shooting. Lower the blues for a darkly ominous sky is a neat one for instance. Variations of this along with contrast and clarity additions are exactly what make the "presets" of such products like Efex Silver. Well, they do also branch out into dual and tri toning, but so can you without them.
This is something that is really not available to the film shooter who can indeed apply colored filters when shooting, but can only then go through the pain of selective dodge and burn for processing effects. The digital world has so much more variety and flexibility. And ease.
@lucypics That's a really nice shot but it's a little flat. A wee increase in contrast will make it really stand out. These challenges aren't competitions, don't limit yourself to a single entry :)
Slightly underexposed from begin with, corrected white balance, changed black point to make the black areas blacker, slight increase in contrast and definition. Then used curves to make the lightest areas brighter, lifted the mid-tones and darkened the black even further.
Thank you for this challenge. I have never done B&W before. I received some good comments from Andreas, so deleted the original version of this one and re-edited it. I have also entered some other photos.
I am new to DSLR Photography & 365 Project.. I saw my daughter watching a cartoon and I remembered seeing a similar picture from some blog so I tried to capture the light from the monitor & Complete Darkness in the background...
@polarvrtx Sara, you are so right! I have been following the thread closely and checking in on the collection of images. So many fantastic shots there! I don't know how I will ever narrow it down to a few images.
@tremerryn Hi there! To enter a photo in the theme/competition, just tag your photo 'technique18'. If you would like to share it on this thread too then go to your photo page. At the bottom right, you will see "share" below which is a box with a code in it. Copy the code in the box and then return to this thread. Paste the code in your reply box and hit enter. It should appear here. Hope that makes sense. Good luck!
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This was my first time taking black and white photos since I was young and I used black and white film in my box brownie camera. I was fascinated by the clouds.
This is something that is really not available to the film shooter who can indeed apply colored filters when shooting, but can only then go through the pain of selective dodge and burn for processing effects. The digital world has so much more variety and flexibility. And ease.
I stopped making it so complicated and simply clicked the shutter button - simple.
An empty washing machine - truly a thing of beauty!
Slightly underexposed from begin with, corrected white balance, changed black point to make the black areas blacker, slight increase in contrast and definition. Then used curves to make the lightest areas brighter, lifted the mid-tones and darkened the black even further.
Thank you for this challenge. I have never done B&W before. I received some good comments from Andreas, so deleted the original version of this one and re-edited it. I have also entered some other photos.
I am new to DSLR Photography & 365 Project.. I saw my daughter watching a cartoon and I remembered seeing a similar picture from some blog so I tried to capture the light from the monitor & Complete Darkness in the background...
Today is my 1st day as a member of project 365, this is my contribution.
There was a spotlight outside on campus and the snow was falling just right to capture this moment
A lack of inspiration in my house left me with my sparkly glittery powder that someone gave me on a puff.
A large response to this, we all love Black and white!!!
Doing b+w for the month but first time I've tried a technique challenge - think this and the one above my best ones
Participating in first challenge; scary stuff!
My first challenge too!
and another:
Just had to squeeze my little man in!