Black & White

Lonely
copyright 2014, Stephanie Maatta Smith

Black and white photography isn't a strong favorite of mine. But I'll admit that it works very well to add atmosphere and emotion to some types of images. Season plays a role in these images also -- winter lighting and snow affects how the images appear, washing out some of the color in the original version, and enhancing some of the shades of black and gray.

Through the Window
copyright 2014, Stephanie Maatta Smith

With a little time to experiment, I pulled up my photo editing software and found a few images which converted nicely into a B&W version. In order to make the conversions work, some of the highlights and shadows required adjusting.

I'll confess that the final image, "Academy in Black and White" was made with my mobile phone's camera. The zoom feature worked really well to capture the image, and it was of fine enough quality to be able to convert to monochrome and not lose the lines and definition.

Academy in Black and White
copyright 2014, Stephanie Maatta Smith

It may be time to read a book or two on black and white digital photography to learn how to add more drama to these types of images. Probably need to spend more time on exposure and lighting as well. Sounds like another photography workshop is in my future.