Black and White day

Recently I had the opportunity to experiment with shooting in black and white. Having never taken black and photos for probably 50 years or so I had thought that its days had long since past.

 

Encouraged by The Focus Aorangi Photographic Society, I discovered that not only was there a monochrome setting  on my Canon 450D, there were also various filters, sharpness, contrast and toning effects to use as well.

 

The following selection shows that in winter when colours and dull and bland, black and white or monochrome comes into its own. Some of this selection also has some colour and toning effects added. A little straightening and cropping has be used but little else has been done to these images. My philosophy is to the try and get my shot right in camera so that little time is necessary later. However this may well change on the future!

 

The bike with a filtered look

An interested spectator.

A slight case of sepia to the rams horn.

Metal wheel hub

Cemeteries provided some good opportunities for black and white. As the old parts are not usually colourful, switching to monochrome produces some good results.

 

Filter effect removed.

 

Black and white does have a place and can work really well if shooting in colour does not work. Please feel free to left coments below.

Macro 2

Another trip down to the local domain and golf course saw a few more mushrooms which caught my attention.

 

Although not taken with a macro lens, my EF 70-300 mm  f/4-5.6 L IS USM lens did a good job with the following close ups.

 

Emerging mushroom
Shot details: f/7.1, ISO-200, 1/160s at 260mm



Another one, later on
Shot details: f/7.1, ISO-200, 1/200s at 260mm

This shot shows the powerful forces of nature which allow fungi to push their way up through the ground. (Weeds left growing in cracks between slabs of concrete can eventually break it up.)

 

Square crop taken lying flat of the ground with the camera at ground level
Shot details: f/7.1, ISO-200, 1/200s at 176mm
 

 

Another ground level shot of a group underneath some tress in the light.

This cropped image of the group above has been included to show what a great lens the EF 70-300mm is. It is my favourite lens when on safari and has shot many animals and birds on safaris in Tanzania.

Moving on I found a few other species of mushrooms which were worthy of lying down on the ground again.
 

Shot details: f/7.1, ISO-200, 1/200s at 200mm

Shot details: f/9  ISO-800, 1/80s at 85 mm

This is a close crop of a rather small mushroom when I was as close to it as possible

Shot details: f/9, ISO-800, 1/60 at 85mm

Disturbed mushroom.
Shot details: f/9 ISO-800, 1/60s at 85 mm

Who needs a macro lens for take these sorts of photos?

Macro 1

The following photos represent my first attempt at macro photography. All photos taken with a Canon 450D and the ES 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM macro lens. A sturdy tripod was necessary as we only had about an hour of good daylight left.

 

Part 1. These are my better efforts taken in the Timaru Botanic Gardens.

 

 

 

Sleepy bumble bee

Part 2: These photos were taken next day around the Pleasant Point Domain and at home.

Miniature rose - Mothers Love

The photo below is cropped to show the dew still on the flower.

Shot details: f/9, 1/50s, ASA-200

 

Aphids which will have a short life!

The bumble bee's back.

I think some patience will be needed in future to get a head shot. Pushing the ISO to 400, using f/7.1 and at 1/250s has yielded a good depth of field and tack sharp focus in the bee.

The Pleasant Point Domain has hundreds of huge trees and lots of different conifers. When you are looking for insects to enhance images, one is disappointed that there are not too many around.

None of the conifer images have been cropped.

Note the cobweb threads glistening in the sun.

 

 

Earwig on acorn, cropped.

Cropped shot of an insect gathering pollen from a white rose.

Nothing too remarkable about the naked lady, but the insect resting on the stem behind the flower was worthy a shot.

 

This is the best I could get. Cropped image.

Flower on the pineapple plant.

Walking back home through the grass, there were mushrooms growing everywhere after the recent rain from the remains of Cyclone Lusi. The morning started off with thick fog so there was still plenty of dew to add interest to the following images. 

 

Mushroom group one

Mushroom from group one, taken at ground level.

Mushroom group 2 with dew covered cobwebs.

 

Mushroom from third type.

The gills from this upturned mushroom show that it is the edible field type.

 

 

Tiny insects on field mushroom, cropped image.

All these images are of things you see often and not even bother to take a second glance at. Through a close up lens, lots of everyday things can take on a completely different and unexpected perspective.

 

I hope you have enjoyed these images. They are a selection from around 250 images I took in around 18 hours.

 

Please feel free to leave your comments below.