Black on white 5... by marlboromaam

Black on white 5...

Shot in black and white in natural light. Doing my own black and white theme for the month of April. Going back to class so to speak... My goal for this week is NOT to do "product" photography - I do NOT want my subject to look like it's floating in air on a washed out white background. My goal is to maintain some detail in the background and still keep a good focus on my subject. It's much harder to do than I remembered!

The human eye can see about 30 shades of gray between black and white - forget about the infamous book, and an average RGB computer screen can detect 256 shades of gray which we can't see anyway. How many shades are there really? Only God knows! I did discover that the bigger the black object is - the harder it is to keep detail in the white background while focusing on the black subject.

Again - large black object (my grandmother's crocheted cocktail bag) to focus on makes for lost detail in the white background. Sacrificing some detail in the object provides for some detail in the background. There's a happy medium, but it's not always in the same place (camera settings). Black absorbs light while white reflects it so the story goes - they oppose each other.

This week is turning out to be an interesting re-learning experience for me. This little theme really was an assignment for John Frair's class so many, many, many years ago. God bless him! I would love a do-over in his class if he was still around.

1st week - only shades of gray in natural light - done
2nd week - black on white in natural light
3rd week - black on black in natural light
4th week - white on black in natural light
5th week - white on white in natural light
I love the way we see the details of the bag, both on the handle and the body of the bag. It's almost hyperrealistic because we feel we can grab the bag...Very nicely captured.
April 8th, 2021  
What a lovely bag with such interesting textures
April 8th, 2021  
Lovely little bag. You have captured the detail beautifully.
April 8th, 2021  
@corinnec Thank you, Corinne! You have a great way of wording it.

@milaniet Thank you, Milanie!

@wakelys Thank you, Susan!
April 8th, 2021  
@corinnec I meant to tell you that I shot these in the shade because direct sunlight will wash out any details in a white background.
April 8th, 2021  
Nice detail in the blacks.
April 8th, 2021  
@kvphoto Thanks, KV! I did lose most of the detail in my background. LOL! My last shot for this week shows even less.
April 8th, 2021  
Beautifully done. The details in the bag really show off how exquisite it is and I love the subtle background details.
April 8th, 2021  
Very nicely done, I'm looking forward to more of these
April 8th, 2021  
@jernst1779 Really appreciate your support, Jean! Thank you very much!

@ryan161 Very kind, Ryan! Thank you.
April 8th, 2021  
@marlboromaam Thanks, greatly appreciated info.
April 9th, 2021  
@corinnec You are very welcome. =)
April 9th, 2021  
The details are wonderful for such a starkly contrasted shot.
April 9th, 2021  
Love the textures and details.
April 9th, 2021  
Lovely detail in the bag
April 9th, 2021  
@ljmanning Thank you, Laura!

@ludwigsdiana Thank you, Diana!

@kjarn Thank you, Kathy!
April 9th, 2021  
Very nice detail on the bag
April 9th, 2021  
@dutchothotmailcom Thank you, Esther!
April 9th, 2021  
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