White on black 7 Finale... by marlboromaam

White on black 7 Finale...

At least 500 different shots with different arrangements of the subjects, and I was not satisfied with any of them. Lacks balance! Next time I attempt this lesson, I know I need more patience.

Thunderstorms expected around 1 PM today. Never know if we'll lose power, so doing everything necessary to avoid delays... laundry, bath, upload to 365, etc.

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 - done
5th week - white on white in natural light
Looks beautiful, Mags.
April 24th, 2021  
@mittens Thank you, Marilyn!
April 24th, 2021  
Mags what do you not like about this?? It's a lovely flat lay of all your props this week. You've got the texture of the cloth, the details in the netting and most brilliantly the different shades of white.

I like it enough to fav it!!
April 24th, 2021  
@30pics4jackiesdiamond Wow! I'm honored, Jackie. Thank you very much. I am most appreciative. I might have gotten everything else right, except the balance of the subjects. I thought it was too heavy on the left and too light on the right.
April 24th, 2021  
I think it's lovely
April 24th, 2021  
@jernst1779 Thank you, Jean!
April 24th, 2021  
The pieces have come together nicely......and stop being so hard on yourself.
April 24th, 2021  
@wakelys Yes, ma'am! Thank you, Susan. =)
April 24th, 2021  
Better than you give yourself credit for!
April 24th, 2021  
@ryan161 Thanks, Ryan!
April 24th, 2021  
Well captured.
April 24th, 2021  
@larrysphotos Thanks, Larry!
April 25th, 2021  
loving this series maggie
April 25th, 2021  
@phil_howcroft You are kind to say so, Phil. Thank you!
April 25th, 2021  
My completely untrained eye is certainly not seeing what you are seeing. I see lots of detail in everything and definite white on black
April 25th, 2021  
@kjarn Thank you, Kathy!
April 25th, 2021  
Very striking.
April 25th, 2021  
@ljmanning Thanks, Laura!
April 25th, 2021  
the white jewelry comes out so pretty on the black.
April 25th, 2021  
@dutchothotmailcom Thank you, Esther!
April 25th, 2021  
A tough challenge with so many elements. It might help to let them group and connect.
April 25th, 2021  
@milestonevisualmedia Next time, Ron! I need more patience with arranging stuff like this - way outside my comfort zone.
April 26th, 2021  
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