Monochrome

A couple of days ago I visited one of my friend's photography stream and was stunned by the beauty of a picture he shared, that of a Rhododendron flower shown in black & white. I have been struggling with our Rhododendron flowers and unhappy with the pictures I've gotten. However, with the inspiration that Dr. Ewan filled me with, I went out this morning and took some pictures, and then transformed this one into a sepia monochrome which has the dreamy qualities I'd hoped to achieve. I would have never thought to turn this purple flower into a b/w image, thanks for the inspiration, Dr. Ewan! :) Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States. Wikipedia: Ralph Waldo Emerson

I wanted to see what would happen if I massaged this image into a black background, and now I am really REALLY wishing that I had my Mark II with me that day!!!

While I was at the zoo, I couldn't resist taking pictures of the amazing plants and flowers that I saw there. So many amazing species, there were indigenous plants to match the habitat areas, so I got to see lots of exhotic beauties! I will only be posting this one picture though, because the trip was about the animals, not the plants! However, I couldn't resist processing this picture of a water lily and its reflection. I've always wanted to take pictures of these, so it was so nice to finally get the chance!

What a dreary morning, very foggy, cold, and miserable! But there were plenty of pretty pictures to find outside, and this web was a wonderful surprise! Chief Seattle (1780 – June 7, 1866) was a Dkhw’Duw’Absh (Duwamish) chief, also known as Sealth, Seathle, Seathl, or See-ahth. A prominent figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, forming a personal relationship with David Swinson "Doc" Maynard. The city of Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington, was named after him. A widely publicized speech arguing in favor of ecological responsibility and respect of native Americans' land rights has been attributed to him. Wikipedia: Chief Seattle

I looked out this morning and gasped in surprise at the sight of the fog feathering its way over and around the hills of the valley where we have our home. I immediately thought of the Misty Mountains from The Hobbit, and lost myself in the memories of that great story and also of the movie we'd recently gone to see and loved so much! The quote I used is from an amazing poem in "The Hobbit," one of my all-time favorite books. If you would like to read the whole poem, it can be found here: The Misty Mountains John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. J.R.R. Tolkien

[best appreciated at full size against black] While walking along our ridge line, I found some budding madrone blossoms, and I was surprised because I'd never noticed them before! When the time came to work on this picture, I started running into problems. I really liked the depth of field but the colors were all too similar and lacked impact. This is when I start playing with filters to see if an idea comes to mind. I was looking through Topaz Lab's "Lens Effects" suite (highly recommended filters!!!) when I found a Toy filter that changed the image to black and white. BAM! That was it! Suddenly the flowers popped out and the image became dramatic and interesting! If you ever feel like you want to give up on a picture that seems to have some potential, take a walk through your filter library and odds are you'll find something to push you in the right direction! :) This image was taken in April, 2012.

[best appreciated at full size against black] We have a plant in our livingroom which has very large, beautiful green leaves, but the other day I found a dead leaf, which I pulled off. As I walked to the trash can, it occurred to me, "HELLO...you're holding a very cool leaf! Let's wash the dust off and take some texture and abstract shots!!" When I turned on the faucet and began cleaning the leaf, I was surprised as how nicely it repelled water, causing the droplets to form perfect globes. Here is one of my pictures, converted to black and white for a dramatic effect! I hope you like it! :) This image was taken in March, 2012.

This is a last shot in a series of images I took of a dead philidendron leaf I found on one of our houseplants. As I was about to throw it away, I realized it would be a beautiful subject to photograph. When I washed the dust off, I was surprised to see how beautifully the water beaded on the surface, and took several pictures which I've shown in my stream over the last couple of months (below I will post the other pictures I took) I thought it might be nice to try turning the image into a sepia tone and was very pleased at the result! I hope you like it too! Explored on June 16, 2012, placement at #48

Yesterday I posted a picture of our lovely yellow daffodils and today, for a change, jonquil buds in black and white! I had trouble with the background when this was in color...I was about to make the decision to retake the shot when I decided to see what would happen if I changed it to a b/w image. WOW! The contrast problems I was having went away and suddenly, the cool shadows on the jonquils really popped out! Once I figured out that b/w was the way to go, I reverted to the color version and carefully adjusted the contrast of the shadows, midtones and highlights before changing it to a b/w image. I have found that doing most of my adjustments to the color version is the better way to go because you have a lot more information to work with. If you're unsure about this process, remember that making adjustments in the color version will make it look "wrong"...you want to increase the contrast carefully, by enhancing the darks and lights and watching the midtones so they don't lose detail on the switch to b/w. Once you're satisfied, final adjustments can then be made in the grayscale version. It's really fun to do this, especially when you understand that most color images will not look good in b/w without these adjustments. I hope I did a good job with this one!! I'm no pro at b/w but I am happy how this one turned out! :) NOTE: I meant to upload the opened cream and yellow daffodil and I forgot! :D :D It will be up to see tomorrow for sure! :D