Bonjour, everyone! Welcome back to the safe space that is my piece of Bearing News. In this post we will be tackling the black and white challenge.
Now, this is not my usual kind of post. I did not adventure out into the world to capture a new image for the challenge; rather, I sifted through photos I had taken previously to find one that could be enhanced by black and white. One might say that these are signs of a man behind on his work, and I would say that person was correct.
Now, black and white is a unique alteration because, in exchange for the loss of color, it increases texture. So any photo with details that invoke a feeling of surface or substance is a good contender for black and white.
I chose to use this photo I took at Sweet Night of Jazz.
The photo is a little dark, so I increased the exposure and blacks to lighten the picture. I kept the shadows to give the photo some contrast after I applied the filter. After making these edits, I simply applied the filter in photoshop, and this was the result:
After seeing the photo in black and white, I finally noticed the blur of the couple’s hands. (You would think that a photographer is supposed to have an eye for detail, but this photographer does NOT.) In normal circumstances, blurriness would ruin the shot, but I was able to increase the grain and give the image a new theme to match that of older photographs shot on basic film cameras. The blur expresses the movement of the couple swing dancing together and provides a story behind an otherwise ordinary photo. For example, this couple spent the night swing dancing around the same spot, and they never stopped smiling, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. You are able to see the whole night within this one frame. Look out for these small bits of story that are hidden within your pictures, as they often add context to these snapshots of time.
Overall, I’d call this one a success. It’s a simple act of putting a filter over your image, but many photographers forget about it during the editing process. If your image ever has brilliant detail and texture, try a grayscale filter on it and see what happens. You may find that a photo looks even more amazing than its original version.
Thank you all for joining me this week on Don’t Lose Focus. I hope to see you again on another daring escapade! Don’t forget to try new things!