Tag: black

Black & White

Not really sure where I am . . . have had a cold for a week, and in this same week there have been anniversaries and parties and graduations and memorials for those who have passed, mixed with all sorts of other things.  Playing in the garden, playing with photos, a bit of this and that, but nothing that just grabs the soul.  Well, not true – we had a wonderful graduation party!  That said, here are some of my forays into processing color into black and white using the B&W channels in the HSL section of Lightroom.  Kind of pleased with the overall results, and maybe learned something . . . what did please me was the simplicity of strong contrasts and subject matter.

Open Space

Open Space

Taken with Velvia 100 film in a pre-WW2 Welta Weltur folder, 6×4.5.  While out with the camera, it popped open twice – I had jerry-rigged a strap for it but if obviously didn’t work too well!  The film was processed in C41 as a result at the local photo shop – to pay more for slide film and potentially nothing seemed ridiculous – so it was cross-processed.  I was quite pleased to see a few out of the 16 survived.  A bit of work made this picture salvageable.  Below is the original cross-processed image, and then a variant in black and white.

Open Space - OriginalOpen Space - Black & White

In a Sea of Thorns

In a Sea of Thorns

The prickly pear cactus is a beautiful plant.  Paddles of green rise up from one another, and the flower buds appear on top.  The buds are the “pears” and are very tasty!  The paddles of the plant (which are really trunks and branches, with the thorns for leaves) are also quite edible.  The paddles are cut off, quite carefully, and held over an open flame to remove the thorns.  Once done, slice and stir-fry.  Very good in scrambled eggs.

Personally, I like looking at them more than harvesting them!