The Black and White Book Club has begun today! And after reading the section of Peterson's book on Black and White Photography as Fine Art, I went on the hunt around my home for something that "looked like someone would hang it on the wall". I combined that very elementary criteria with some of the points that Peterson made in this chapter:
What compels you to choose black and white over color?
Restricting the color palette translates a view into a special medium with very particular characteristics and renews our attraction to the insignificant.
And finally a quote of Robert Frank, "Black and white are the colors of photography. To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is subjected."
I do not necessarily agree 100% with Frank's assessment of humankind, but I did like his concept of stark contrast, and finally landed on a shot of my dining room rug which I felt brought out that idea of polar opposites in abstract form and could quite possibly end up hanging on someone's wall.
I like the way the chair echoes the line of the carpet but with contrasting textures and tint. I think texture is what black and white highlights the most for me.
@nicolecampbell Thanks Nicole! The chair might help but I liked that it was at an interesting angle. @pandorasecho Thanks Dixie! The author highlighted several components that black and white is good at emphasizing and texture was one of them. Lighting, drama, geometry and sensuousness were the other four according to the author. @kerristephens Thanks Kerri!
Very interesting to see what you've done. I'm really enjoying Freeman's book. I took more of a focus on the filters section. That was fascinating to read and think about, so I wanted to see it in the 'real world' of a photo image. I love what you've done with light and texture.
@digitalrn Thanks Rick! I agree- I move back and forth between the two quite often. @taffy Thanks Taffy! I don't have the ability to do too much with my p & s, so I tend to stay awhile from the technical approach. But it won't be long before I'll have the capability to explore that and I'm looking forward to it. I'll have to reread those parts of this book when that happens. @vickisfotos Thanks Vikki! lol there are ways to cover up the out of focus factor in color too! @eudora Thanks Diane! Interestingly the rug is basically black, white and gray in tone, so I felt the leg added a nice contrast to the gray areas. It also introduced a little tension into the shot which also made the shot more interesting. @twr Thanks Timothy! @yaorenliu Thanks Yao! @alia_801 Thank you Alia! @lilminimonka Thank you Brianna! @cimes1 Thank you Carole! @sangwann Thank you Dione! @salza Thank you Sally!
@axika This year's Feb. challenge is basically the same as last year's with some instructions from a book on how to take a better black and white shot. This year, since the center of the calendar does not really fall exactly on Feb. 14 like it sort of did last year, we broadened the color to be whatever people wanted to choose, not just red. So, I'd also suggest tagging your shots with this year's tag- bw-bookclub so that anyone who's doing this year's will also see your shots. You don't need the book to participate. We're never that picky or insistent you do it "our way"!
@olivetreeann yes, but most of the participants are reading & following the book and I'm out of place maybe at the end , thank you again, you're very kind
@archaeofrog Thanks Katie! I really liked the idea of how this was something insignificant, but when shot in black and white, it became something really interesting to look at.
hi, ann. are you in ukraine? :-) i received a rather long and alarming email from you that I thought i'd check you in here (at 2 in the morning). since it doesn't seem you are traveling far from home, then i thought you should know that your email's been hacked. yahoo is bad that way.
btw, excellent start to this month's challenge, which totally skipped my mind; will try to catch up when I get back home.
@homeschoolmom Thank you Lisa! @summerfield Thanks Vikki! 1) No, I'm not in the Ukraine 2) I think I'm going to get a new email. Not really great for my brain, but this is the second time now that this has happened and I'm disgusted with it. I'll let you know if I do. 3) Safe travels!
@olivetreeann -whew! that's a relief. but mind you the thing that gave it away was that your name was signed "Ann Lefevre" without the H in between. also, a friend's email was hacked the same way three years ago and the circumstance under which the sender was asking for a two-thousand dollar loan was exactly the same, thinking about it now. glad you're not in trouble in the ukraine. :-)
Cool geometric abstract with modern straight lines and rectangular shapes. It's neat to see such nice precision along with the interesting texture in the rug, too. How creative! :)
@summerfield The last time they hacked me I was in England and also needed money to get home. Boy, if I was only in these places, the photos I would take!! - without needing money of course!
@gratefulness thank you Sandi! Funny you should say modern because my house is not at all modern. The previous owners left this rug for us and it has come in handy after we put the wood floor down. But it is not really what I'd put in my dining room. However, it's nice and does the job.
@pandorasecho Thanks Dixie! The author highlighted several components that black and white is good at emphasizing and texture was one of them. Lighting, drama, geometry and sensuousness were the other four according to the author.
@kerristephens Thanks Kerri!
@taffy Thanks Taffy! I don't have the ability to do too much with my p & s, so I tend to stay awhile from the technical approach. But it won't be long before I'll have the capability to explore that and I'm looking forward to it. I'll have to reread those parts of this book when that happens.
@vickisfotos Thanks Vikki! lol there are ways to cover up the out of focus factor in color too!
@eudora Thanks Diane! Interestingly the rug is basically black, white and gray in tone, so I felt the leg added a nice contrast to the gray areas. It also introduced a little tension into the shot which also made the shot more interesting.
@twr Thanks Timothy!
@yaorenliu Thanks Yao!
@alia_801 Thank you Alia!
@lilminimonka Thank you Brianna!
@cimes1 Thank you Carole!
@sangwann Thank you Dione!
@salza Thank you Sally!
@mrssmith203 Thanks Carla!
@prttblues Thanks Bev!
@vesna0210 Thank you Vesna!
@daisymiller Thanks Daisy!
btw, excellent start to this month's challenge, which totally skipped my mind; will try to catch up when I get back home.
@summerfield Thanks Vikki! 1) No, I'm not in the Ukraine 2) I think I'm going to get a new email. Not really great for my brain, but this is the second time now that this has happened and I'm disgusted with it. I'll let you know if I do. 3) Safe travels!
@gratefulness thank you Sandi! Funny you should say modern because my house is not at all modern. The previous owners left this rug for us and it has come in handy after we put the wood floor down. But it is not really what I'd put in my dining room. However, it's nice and does the job.