SAL Photography Challenge #4 - Black & White Photography

**Jay** · Mar 1 2015, 09:09 AM

How about some Black & White Photography for the month of March Challenge. All BW photos are welcome and highly encouraged for this next challenge

Here is one I took a while back with the killer old school Minolta 50mm f/1.4 Rokkor-x lens... Looking forward to getting some new BW Photos this month though as well!

Thanks for playing,
Jay

**Jay** · Mar 1 2015, 10:18 AM

Here is one I liked from just the other day with the new Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens, via my full frame mirrorless Sony A7r.

Thanks for looking,

Jay

**Jay** · Mar 1 2015, 11:24 AM

Here's another snapshot from a few days ago that I thought looked good in BW

Same Zeiss Loixia 35mm f/2 lens and A7r combo as above.

Thanks for looking,
Jay

**Jay** · Mar 1 2015, 11:42 AM

After a serious shoveling session

More snow coming down as I type this!

Photo taken with the new Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens, via my full frame mirrorless Sony A7r.

Thanks for looking,
Jay

**Jay** · Mar 1 2015, 11:57 AM

Here is one from yesterday that I'm really happy with as far as sharpness and other quality goes, but the edit I'm still working on

Bones Jones:

Bones - Sony A7r and Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Lens by SonyAlphaLab, on Flickr

Photo taken with the new Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens, via my full frame mirrorless Sony A7r.

Thanks for looking,
Jay

**Jay** · Mar 1 2015, 03:56 PM

Having a few minutes free time today was a pleasure, and I just took these photos of Jase while feeding him some veggie and fruit puree

He was really hungry and now they have these cool pouches with threads on top that a spoon screws to. It has a small hole so you can just squeeze the bag and squirt out a little goodness onto the spoon at a time. Amazing and surprisingly simple design I thought.

BW adds a nice timeless feel to the images I feel. I used one of the lightroom default BW presets for these and synced all of them, so the effect would be approximately the same. I then tweaked the exposure a bit on each image.

Check out this fairly new container/ feeding technology for lack of a better term...

Jase is loving it!

Starting to get filled up.

All done!

Thanks for looking and photos taken with the new Zeiss Loxia 35mm f/2 Biogon T* Lens, via my full frame mirrorless Sony A7r.

Jay

**seanlancaster** · Mar 1 2015, 10:24 PM

Jay, you posted some fantastic B&W shots. But your photos of Bones are just incredible. You seem to nail his portraits every single time. And he's adorable, to boot. I really like the depth of field play on the shots of Jase . . . he's adorable as well.

**Cinjith** · Mar 1 2015, 11:26 PM

Jingle Bell

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**leuius** · Mar 1 2015, 11:40 PM

@Jay: Very nice B&W pictures. The last 2 of your opening set are plain perfect and the picture of Bones' face is outstanding. Cool baby food delivery idea and nice baby "action" shots. Just missing the burp

I'm normally more into color shots (I only took one test B&W image set that I recall in the last 25 years - as follows) so this will be an interesting personal challenge. Do you expect/prefer for participants to shot initially in B&W or to get there in the post-processing stage?

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Taken using A6000 with a Minolta Rokkor-X 50mm/1.4 MD vintage lens with Lens Turbo II adapter.

Regards,

**wilmeland** · Mar 1 2015, 11:46 PM

Nice shots guys. Jay, with your opening series, you set the bar pretty high. Think I like this challenge. To my mind better than just street shots, though that is good idea too. However, think more will feel able to contribute here.

One sub topic I'd like to introduce, as an additional thought and thread. How many of us take B&W from the start and how many of us look at our photos later and decide it would be better processed as B&W?

Willie

**Jay** · Mar 2 2015, 07:06 AM

Thanks for the comments and sharing some BW photos already everybody

I personally take the photos in color, raw usually and then convert to BW on in Lightroom. However, shooting jpeg and using some of the BW modes on camera is a great idea as well if you prefer! Why not use some of the camera features? especially if you have not tried them yet!

This is going to be a good challenge I think!

Jay

**Jay** · Mar 2 2015, 07:07 AM

Originally Posted by seanlancaster

Jay, you posted some fantastic B&W shots. But your photos of Bones are just incredible. You seem to nail his portraits every single time. And he's adorable, to boot. I really like the depth of field play on the shots of Jase . . . he's adorable as well.

That was a super nice comment Sean and I really appreciate it

Jay

**FlavioRoss** · Mar 2 2015, 10:24 AM

Im going to try some shots soon, but Im going to do B&W straight of the camera. I think it's more challenging. Shooting in RAW and convert in post process is an normal routine for me.

**Jay** · Mar 2 2015, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by FlavioRoss

Im going to try some shots soon, but Im going to do B&W straight of the camera. I think it's more challenging. Shooting in RAW and convert in post process is an normal routine for me.

I think I might do the same for a few as well Flavio

Jay

**WillHucks** · Mar 2 2015, 12:31 PM

I snapped this one real fast behind my home this morning using the Sony RX100 M3.

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**WillHucks** · Mar 2 2015, 12:35 PM

I took this one with my Sony A7 while in St. Augustine Florida a couple weekends ago.

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**WillHucks** · Mar 2 2015, 12:39 PM

Street performers in St. Augustine Florida.

Sony A7

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**wilmeland** · Mar 3 2015, 01:12 AM

Nice shots everyone. Will, particularly find your second shot interesting - very nice use of light.
Below a few from this week. Only the first was shot as B&W from camera. Actually, I generally prefer a monochrome treatment with a sepia or sienna tone. Purists would probably say that's not really B&W. For this challenge, are we considering monochrome such as these last 3 below acceptable?
Willie

la lucha03763 by wilmeland, on Flickr

StevesCollies3765bw by wilmeland, on Flickr

la lucha03773bw by wilmeland, on Flickr

shiva nataraj03693 by wilmeland, on Flickr

**dragion** · Mar 3 2015, 01:42 AM

Here's some old ones...

All shot JPEG Fine and converted to B&W in LR5

A6000 : SELP18105G

by dragioniii, on Flickr

by dragioniii, on Flickr

A6000 : SELP1650

by dragioniii, on Flickr

A6000 : SEL30M35

by dragioniii, on Flickr

A6000 : SEL50F18

by dragioniii, on Flickr

A6000 : Sigma 90mm Macro

by dragioniii, on Flickr

**Jay** · Mar 3 2015, 12:01 PM

Really nice work Will, Willie, and Dragion

Thanks for sharing and lets see some more New BW Photos shall we!

Jay

**Panza** · Mar 4 2015, 12:47 AM

No Flash Photography, Please by Pan Shawn, on Flickr
I was happy I took this photo because I timed her flash right. Looking at this image I may try and work on the colored version again, but its actually a dull cold image taken after sundown.
Edit: I remember now, the snowbanks were a mushy brown and the colors were kind of bleh ... the snowanks are good contrast and makes the snow look more appealing in B&W, but in color it looks like hard dirt...

Walking Through the Park by Pan Shawn, on Flickr
Heres a picture I meant to process in BW. When I take photos with the intent of B&W, I think more about the contrast.

**seanlancaster** · Mar 4 2015, 01:35 AM

I am loving many of these shots. For some reason, I am not getting into B&W yet this month. I don't have a single picture I've taken with the intention of converting to B&W. And normally, most of my shots are planned to be B&W. Maybe tomorrow, I hope. Surely, it will be a shot like what leuius or Cinjith with the shallow depth of field (or even the 5th shot by dragion).

**dragion** · Mar 4 2015, 01:44 AM

A6000 : SELP18105G

Shot JPEG Fine and converted to B&W in LR5
The view through plexiglass...Mama & Baby

by dragioniii, on Flickr

**dragion** · Mar 4 2015, 01:47 AM

Originally Posted by Panza

No Flash Photography, Please by Pan Shawn, on Flickr
I was happy I took this photo because I timed her flash right. Looking at this image I may try and work on the colored version again, but its actually a dull cold image taken after sundown.
Edit: I remember now, the snowbanks were a mushy brown and the colors were kind of bleh ... the snowanks are good contrast and makes the snow look more appealing in B&W, but in color it looks like hard dirt...

Walking Through the Park by Pan Shawn, on Flickr
Heres a picture I meant to process in BW. When I take photos with the intent of B&W, I think more about the contrast.

Ahhh...Good Ole Boston Common
Nice to see a neighbor here!