There’s something about both windows and doors that draws many photographers to capture them, isn’t there? Maybe it’s the intrigue of not knowing what lies within. Or perhaps it’s simply that their geometry is pleasing to the eye.
-
-
If you cannot see a feeling, how can you photograph it? The answer is, by proxy. You photograph something that will evoke that feeling in the viewer, and/or you photograph a person evidently displaying that feeling.
-
It would be unusual if we weren’t motivated to pick our camera when we see a beautiful flower, an awe-inspiring landscape, an attractive or characterful person, an elegant building. But it would be a shame to restrict our photography only to those more obvious subjects. We can also look for the photogenic in everyday objects, looking at them with fresh eyes to appreciate their forms and textures.
-
Dereliction and decay are natural subjects for black and white photography. The lack of colour adds to a sense of aging, perhaps because we associate it with the photos taken by past generations. Also, the textures of decay stand out more when colour is subtracted.
-
A black and white world is a strange world indeed, but then there is much in the world that seems strange to us. Different cultures, different landscapes, different architecture, different animals … and that is why we travel.
-
When you remove the colour from an image you see other aspects of your subject more clearly. Shape, form, texture all stand out more without the distraction of colour, and monochrome highlights the contrasts between them.
-
Some photographic subjects are obvious candidates for black and white, others seem better suited to colour. But sometimes it’s interesting to choose a subject or destination that appears to cry out for colour and experiment with some monochrome edits. The results may surprise you!
-
I’ve had several exchanges of comments with blogger friends about the merits or otherwise of editing flower shots in monochrome. Some, like me, find the textures and shapes attractive, while others bemoan the loss of colour.
-
Where the River Tyne meets the North Sea lies the aptly named appealing town of Tynemouth. In the summer this is a popular low-key seaside resort, despite the chill of that well-named sea. And in winter it is an equally popular place for a bracing walk, either on the sands or on the paths and promenades above.
-
I enjoy photographing architecture in black and white, especially more modern architecture. So here is a selection of architectural images, most relatively new (that is, twentieth or twenty first century).
