fosstodon.org is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
Fosstodon is an invite only Mastodon instance that is open to those who are interested in technology; particularly free & open source software. If you wish to join, contact us for an invite.

Administered by:

Server stats:

10K
active users

Waxing crescent Moon setting over Reno, Nevada.

@elaterite That's beautiful! I love black and white photography.

Bob Tregilus

@CatherineBabault Thank you! Yes, I've been going through my back catalog finding photos that render well in B&W. I think B&W is now my favorite. But you have to have the right shot for it.

@elaterite I find black and white photography more challenging than colour. Like you said: ''you have to have the right shot for it''.

@CatherineBabault Agreed. It's all about the contrast and textures, and protecting your highlights. Always liked the quote: When you photograph a person in color, you photograph their clothes. When you photograph a person in black and white, you photograph their soul. I think the same could be said of nature as well.

@elaterite Do you find you are more often converting a photo you previously edited (or intended for) colour vs. having the intention of black and white when making it initially? @CatherineBabault

@michaelrussell @CatherineBabault Yes, I've become proficient at using parametric masks in Darktable so that has changed how I look at a RAW image. There are images I wanted to make B&W a long time ago, but I didn't know how to make them look how I visualized them. For example, the one of the bristlecone I just posted, I was unable to make it look right in B&W until I just came across it again today. But also, now that I know masking I'm finding images I can convert that look much better in B&W.

@elaterite I guess that is like many other techniques we learn along the way and suddenly think of a lot of older images that could benefit! Now that you have that technique do you think you'll make more destined purposefully for B&W in the field? @CatherineBabault

@michaelrussell I hope so. My big challenge now is how to make sense of shooting in canyon country, where I'm moving in the spring. I want to try & apply a kind of Fan Ho style to canyon country, at least for the general landscapes. But there's also the ruins & rock imagery. The colors, while pretty, are distracting as well. There's lots of textures that could be highlighted in B&W to help the cultural sites pop. I think I might experiment with lighting? @CatherineBabault