Black and White TIps

I have always loved black and white photography.  Even before I was interested in photography, black and white images commanded my attention.  This past week I renewed this interest after reading a book about Ansel Adams and looking at old b/w images from other greats.

I did not go anywhere particularly interesting this week, but did take pictures around the neighborhood and house.  My goal was to create some interesting black and white images from otherwise mundane surroundings.  Obviously, converting images to b/w is as simple as a click on any post processing program.  However, after doing some research I did find a few great tips as to how to improve black and white conversion and provide more control.  The post processing tips are for Aperture 3, but I assume hold true for similar programs.  Obviously, Photoshop offers more control and options but if you are using it then you probably don't need these tips.  Some of these might be apparent and some might not be applicable to you and your equipment, but I found them helpful and maybe you will too...

1. Shoot in RAW (and by default color, if you shoot in jpeg shoot in color).
2. Shoot high color, high contrast shots for more dramatic b/w images.
3. Look for shots that have texture and/or patterns.
4. Use the lowest ISO setting possible.
5. In post processing, apply b/w adjustment and then tweak image by adjusting individual colors.
6. To apply more dramatic effect, turn the Definition adjustment way up.  Then add another Definition adjustment to further enhance the effect.

Below are a few shots.  Thank you as always and take care!

Vegas: The Flowers Wedding

This past weekend Rachel and I went to Vegas to celebrate the wedding of Jeff Flowers and Lindsey Newport.  It was an Akron reunion in Vegas and it was great!  The wedding and reception were at Caesar's Palace and was really well done.  Other highlights included pool time at the Flamingo, finally learning how to play Craps, Harrah's Improv, gambling, drinking, steak and eggs late night specials, and the ongoing fun of sticking hooker cards in each others jacket collars.

Of course, the real highlight was getting to spend time celebrating with some really great friends that I do not see nearly enough.  I brought my camera and brand new Canon 430ex ii Speedlite Flash along with me on the trip, but did not take many pictures.  Luckily, the entire event was chronicled by my friend Gary who photographed pretty much non stop the whole weekend.  The pictures that I have included below are mostly of the reception and shortly there after.

A big thank you to Dirty Thirty Photography special guest photographer Katie Costigan Stahr who contributed to this collection.  Thank you as always for stopping by and take care!

Black and White

Full Color