37. Black And White

Assignment for the September meeting:  Black And White Photography! Now, just because you have a digital camera doesn't mean you're limited to shooting only color. Far from it!! Digital shooting just frees the mind and processing funds to experiment in lots of different ways. Black and white photography is not only still acceptable, but often preferable, to bestow that certain look and feel that only comes with grey scale art. You can do it in your camera, you can do it in post-production, and you can do it for free. Let your imaginations soar and find scenes that lend themselves to emphasis in black and white.

Bruce Switalla gave a great tutorial on things to consider. Check out his tips and tricks and resources on our "How To" page, or click this link to take you right there:

Black and White Photography tutorial

To view the assignment results, click here.

The Digicam SIG met at Parkdale Library with nine members present. We missed the Rockport contingent and others absent because of hurricane evacuation. Many sent in their Black & White photo assignments anyway.

Several of the photos were absolutely beautiful, probably the best art that we have seen in recent shows. See them at ww.ccbirding.com/dcsig and click on Assignments.

Ben Luna - Most impressive was his Mother and child photo, with an area of radiance. He has a panorama of White Sands National Monument - stark white and shadows; a remark that even the fonts were beautiful. There are animals, native Americans, theater posters, all impressive.

Bill Draper - He added to his usual Padre Island and marine scenes some of his Argus C3 art from the Korean War. Note his photo of the action of wave and current in a Gulf scene.

Bruce Switalla - We had an unexpected excellent tutorial on the effect of color changes on B &W photos. Changing the RGB components affects the lightness and darkness of photo parts. Check this feature in Irfanview and play with it. His photos included Franklin Graham with hand in air, worshippers in background. He had gorgeous shots of spider lilies, centers stark white, their leaves like thin gray tentacles. Very professional and impressive.

D. B. Kline - Welcome back, D. B. This time he went to his love of sail boats in action, tilting in the wind, sails billowing, catching wave action and background shades of the sky. He also showed excellent stitched photo of the Gulf with the Corpus Christi Coliseum in the foreground.

Brian and Drew Jacobs - They have developed an amazing sophistication in selection of material , in content and in their artistry. Two tepees at dusk, poles dark against the sky. Two horses, identical white blaze faces, head on in one photo, and nuzzling in another. Photos of men in martial art poses. Vintage churches and a mission with the bells framed against a lighter sky. Native Americans in ceremonial dress. A character study of a bearded old man. And they gave our beautiful Patty horns, caught her in front of them.

John Hoffmann - Impressive eye-catching scenes of the World War II Memorial, changes in shadowing as the architecture curves. Great capture of the FDR and image of man listening to war news on old curved-top radio. Farm scenes, silos and barnyards. Model A Ford roadster; old streetcar. Cypress roots and stumps in bayou country. Nice pot pourri of B&W.

Ken Parsons - In Singapore and Hong Kong this time, photos of skyscraper, exotic architecture-one at dusk with logos lit. .Seagoing junks, oriental icons. Beautiful white blooms in water (like glass) on dark background.

Patty Beasley - Beautiful late sunset on the water, pier structure and bird in foreground. Old courthouse with Christmas lights, a standout in Black and White. Line of trees in half-light. Shot of Great Blue Heron, wings opened - fantastic composition. Large clump of Morning Glories against gray background. Sunset on the water - black and white brings out stripes and striations. White cat in dark leaves. A dark leaf in lightly mottled snow - vivid! - my favorite. White pelicans in dark background water. Steps with chaff debris and a large feather - outstanding.

Sharron Hord - Broke the mold - B&W items with full color root beer bottle casting a shadow - imagination! Photo of multi-story steps - unusual and nice configuration of lines. Tops of clouds from airplane window. Glad to have her back and contributing.

Next months meeting at the Parkdale libray is October 18. The assignment is CLOUDSCAPES. Maybe those long awaited cold/cool fronts will bring in some beautiful clouds. See you and your pictures next month.

For the scribe -
Bill Draper