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Tag Archives: black and white


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Black and white

Margo, over at her blog, That Little Voice, posted a black and white photo for a challenge. It reminded me how much I enjoy black and white photography, and I said as much. We both mentioned that we don’t do many these days, and I suggested this week we each try to post one black and white image.

So I went out with Penny looking for an opportunity.

For me the thing about black and white is finding simplicity. I like images that aren’t busy, trending toward modern art.

I didn’t exactly find that on this search. But as soon as I took this shot I knew it could be interesting in black and white.

This is Penny exploring a boat ramp at a local lake when the lake was mirror smooth. I was letting her decide if she wanted to get her feet wet. She wasn’t excited about the chance, the only one with wet feet at the end of the day was me. She was curious about the water, hence the ripples around her nose.

I think I’ll keep an eye out for another black and white image when Penny and I are exploring. You never know when you’ll spot something cool. Thanks to Margo for inspiring me to go out and look for black and white!


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Cee’s Black and White photo challenge: All About Nature

Once in awhile I like to mess around with black and white images. Most of the time I look for stark images with clean lines and a big contrast between the darks and lights. Kind of ultra modern.

But I also like nature in black and white, so when I saw Cee’s challenge I went looking for something from my archives that would fit the bill. And, as you know, I have a LOT of bird images so I decided to pull this Sandhill crane from a visit just last month to my favorite bird park. It was all about the shadow when I took the image, and I think it’s the shadow that makes this a great black and white.

I hope you like it too! Thanks, Cee, for the challenge!


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Cee’s black & white photo challenge: patterns in nature

Yesterday was sunny, so I went over to a bird sanctuary I’ve been curious about. I was kind of disappointed, but that’s anther post. I did have one shot I immediately thought of when I read Cee’s challenge – patterns in nature.

There was a huge leaf on the trail, wet from the rain the night before, and the veining was so beautiful I took a picture destined for my post about the sactuary.

But I think it looks pretty cool in black and white too.


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Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Reflections

I was setting up to shoot some Christmas lights through a window when I accidentally pressed the shutter. Instinctively I stayed still until I heard the shutter close. Still, it’s blury, caused by the double pane window and a bit of me moving.

Photographer reflections

Photographer reflections

I was going to delete it, but I kind of liked the impressionistic look. And then I remembered Cee’s challenge – reflections.


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Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Buildings

You know my favorite buildings to photograph are barns. So when Cee sent out a challenge for black and white photos of buildings I knew I needed to look at my barn archive. Especially since I have recent barn photos that you haven’t seen.

While I was up north I spent a day driving through the orchards and farmlands in the center of the peninsula. There were a lot of great barns, and someday I’ll do a post about them and show you more, but for right now enjoy this one. Tucked into the hill it was home to several cows that viewed me suspiciously when I stopped to take a photo.

Cow house.

Cow house.

And you might get a kick out of this barn which is located closer to where I live. There’s an organization here that is trying to preserve old barns. And Kid Rock does live around here. So I guess they were hoping for a donation.

Kid's house?

Kid’s house?

Just down the road is this relatively small horse barn. I always look over at it as I head into town. There are three really big horses that live here, and I look to see if they are out and about. The other day all three were lined up in front of their barn and today I was hoping they’d be doing that again. Not so lucky today. Still, it’s a cute little barn and at least a couple of the residents hung out for me long enough to snap this.

Horse house.

Horse house.

You can see other people’s interpretations of “buildings” over at Cee’s original post.

I think another fun way to approach this challenge would be to head into the city. There are some interesting buildings there, but time is fleeting and I don’t think I’ll get down there soon enough. What buildings do you have around you that would convert to black and white and retain their interest? Share them with us!

Thanks Cee!