Black on black 7 finale... by marlboromaam

Black on black 7 finale...

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 month is NOT to do "product" photography - I do NOT want my subject to look like it's floating in air on a washed out 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!

Same subjects as in the prior week, set on my Turkish black goat skin rug. Oh, how I struggled with this one and shot over and over again. What the eye perceives as black or white in a black and white image is a task - light, f-stop, ISO, focal length, etc. all play a role in the nearest to perfect image you can capture. Keeping detail in your subject and background along with the tones the eye perceives as black and/or white is NOT easy.

The biggest thing to watch out for when shooting black on black is "mud." John Frair said too much gray makes for a very muddy shot and thus - no good score. You still have to have pure black in your shadows and pure white in your highlights. I think it's a little easier than shooting black on white, but it has its own challenges with "mud."

This is turning out to be an interesting re-learning experience. It really was an assignment for John Frair's class so many decades 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 - done
3rd week - black on black in natural light - done
4th week - white on black in natural light
5th week - white on white in natural light
Really enjoying your month, your calendar view is already stunning
April 17th, 2021  
I am looking for the Opera glasses.
April 17th, 2021  
@30pics4jackiesdiamond Thank you, Jackie!

@wakelys My mother had a pair. Don't know where they are now. =)
April 17th, 2021  
Like the arrangement. The amount of white light in the shot gives it balance.
April 17th, 2021  
@ryan161 Thank you, Ryan! Grateful for your comments.
April 17th, 2021  
Stellar composition.
April 18th, 2021  
@ljmanning Thank you, Laura!
April 18th, 2021  
Awesome composed shot
April 18th, 2021  
I like all the various shades of black and so much texture too!
April 18th, 2021  
@dutchothotmailcom Thank you, Esther!

@kjarn Thank you, Kathy!
April 18th, 2021  
Great tonal range and so much to look at... nice composition!
April 18th, 2021  
@kvphoto Thank you, KV!
April 18th, 2021  
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