Week 4 / 52 of Maraea

As I said a few days ago, I've been working on my black & white photography.  I tend to like darker black & white images.  When I use black & white film, and get it developed, I feel like it always comes out with a green tint to it.  This week, I figured out why.  To spare you a lot of technical details, it's basically the way the black & white film I was using was made.  I've since purchased some "good" black & white film (aka, not any black & white film you can find at your corner CVS) and am working my way through a roll.  In the meantime though, I started fiddling around with the in-camera settings on my DSLR to take images in Monochrome.  I found that I could make some adjustments that give me the types of black & white images I have always longed to take.  THIS EXCITES ME.  And renews my passion in photography even more.

So the other night I was playing with these settings and taking pictures of my lovely daughter.  It was 'quiet time' -- the time after dinner and before bed, when we usually get her pajamas on, let her have a binky, and lay down on the couch and watch a couple cartoons.  She was laying down and was therefore perfectly still, and even better, she barely noticed I was taking her picture (she was very interested in Bot on his crazy skates... thanks, Team Umizoomi).  The living room was dark but there was some secondary lighting coming from both the TV and the dining room, so she is lit only by that.  I had to hold very still -- even the images I felt were the best when viewing on my camera's screen, were actually somewhat blurry when viewing on my computer screen.  So this week's image is:

I'm very pleased with this picture.  I love the shadows, the color of her hair, the lighting.  I'm very happy with the crispness and the contrast too.  Like I said, I like darker black & white photography.  If you go with the default settings in your camera, you come out with a very grey-toned image.  When I first shot in Monochrome on my DSLR, this impressed me, because what did I have to compare it to?  Oh yeah.  Green-tinted images developed at CVS.  But now.... oh, yes.  Now, I have figured out how to take the black & white photography that I love.  Higher contrast (the darks are darker and the lights are lighter), more sharpness.  Less blah, less greyscale, less blur. 

I am very excited to have added some knowledge to my photography toolbelt this week.  :)

I'm not quite sure what this week will bring.  I've been recovering from the flu, so I haven't even had my camera out.  But maybe something this weekend, something soon.  You might see more black & white from me in the coming weeks.