Well... The white azaleas almost look like they're floating which is exactly the look I did NOT want. Although I kept most of the detail in the azaleas - there's little left in the background. I flipped it vertically and horizontally and liked it a little better but, it will be a definite do over in a while.
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!
Finding six white subjects was a chore for me! Off white or cream I have, but very little pure white subjects around the house. My black background is a shower curtain. I found that shower curtains make great backgrounds and they're real cheap! White on black seems to be the toughest one yet to maintain detail in both subject and background.
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.
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
You have given yourself quite challenge for the month.
I think this shot is a success - there is clear detail in both the subject and background and the azaleas look beautiful
I think this shot is a success - there is clear detail in both the subject and background and the azaleas look beautiful
@ludwigsdiana Thank you, Diana!
@aikiuser Thank you, Jenn!
@kjarn Thank you, Kathy!
@wakelys Thanks, Susan! I'm not sure. Perhaps to lessen the blow from other critics?
@koalagardens Thank you!