Picture Black and White ~ 5

Today I'm bringing to you the next installment of Picture Black and White. Let's get started!

The Sky's The Limit

I love to photograph the sky. It's ever changing; the color, the clouds, sunrises and sunsets. Our goal today was to photograph the sky looking for depth, texture, and light. I had to take a ton of pictures for this shot! I was on one knee with my little point and shoot held to the ground facing up. I was also pushing him and dodging the swing. He kept say, "stop taking pictures, gramma, and push me as fast as a roller coaster!" Finally, I got the shot that I wanted and then pushed him fast and high!!

I made this image the largest I could! Can you see those gorgeous long eyelashes!! I didn't notice them until someone in class commented on them!

Grounded

Ground shots always bring suprises. There are so many details in nature that we miss since we rarely lay on the ground or kneel down to see from that viewpoint. It's fun to get down explore and connect with the earth. If you've been around my blog very long, you know I like mushrooms!  They make me think of magic and little elves! These mushrooms remind me of  salt on pretzels. They are actually about the color of pretels.

I love this delicate mushroom and the contrast with the dark background! Can't you just see a little fairy sitting on top of this one?

Lens on Landscape

I don't take near enough landscape photos. I tend to fill my frame with one thing and forget that there's a great big picture out there! Looking for landscapes in black and white is a bit more tricky. You have to look for shapes, textures, lights, and darks that bring out the magnificence or splendor of the scene. This is the Arkansas River taken from Pinnacle Mountain visitor center.

Getting Intimate

The photo below is an example of the majority of my work. I love to get up close and personal. There's just something fascinating to me about the shapes and textures in a macro image. How many times do we look at a damaged leaf and think it's beautiful? The way insects have eaten this leaf makes it look like lace to me.

The Growth Process

The growth of flowers is a slow process. Unless you see a time lapse you really don't get to see their movements as they unfurl their blooms.  We can only capture a moment in their growth. I have a shade garden full of hostas. I love how they stay so green and lush all summer, if you water them that is!  I've never really been impressed with their blooms. They just didn't seem beautiful stuck up on those long stalks. I didn't appreciate them until I got up close to them. For one thing their blooms hang down.  You see their beauty when you get down on the ground and look underneath them. I've discovered through photography that I like them very much.

Stay tuned for the last segment of Picture Black and White.

We will be finishing the class this week.

Oh, and please excuse any misspelled words!

Spell check is not working today!