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Sometimes things are black and white

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Hi it’s me! (I bet you guessed that.) Don’t you just love mirrors? I’m bad. The photographer in me just won’t leave reflections alone.

I was thinking about reflections and about black and white photography. My media group at Wordsmith Studio has issued a B/W challenge for this week’s theme.

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You know, some days it doesn’t seem right when all I do is press a button or manipulate a function. I miss the days when I used to buy a roll of B/W film and it was so precious, you know, those 24-36 photos which took so much time and effort to develop.

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I miss my black room and I miss the smells and textures and the magic. I miss lugging my father’s Leicas, light meters, rolls of film. Did I ever tell you about the time I dropped the best Leica on the concrete floor of Heathrow airport? It bounced and rolled and came back unscathed. I thought that for sure I cracked the lens or something. My very expensive first digital Nikon became unfixable after I had it for about two years. The good folks at Nikon said, “Well, they’re only really good for about 10,000 shutter releases, but we can sell you a new one.” Really? I’ve had the Leica for about 50 million shutter releases! (Ok, marginal bit of exaggeration.)

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But it still is magic. It still takes an “eye” to concentrate on form and reflection with B/W. To see it in B/W even when you know there is colour, to reduce it in your mind and capture it with your camera. The pure and clean image, the fine lines, the sculpture, the magic. I love it.

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Comments: 11

  • February 18, 2013
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    Dear Veronica,
    Just by looking at the photo, I feel that you are a kind soul and you have experienced a lot, There is a kind of sadness somehow from your eyes, maybe you feel disappointed sometimes.

    Anyway, I like your second photo best because there is a great contrast between old and the new in the photo. The metal chairs are modern and B/W gives the touch of old. If the chairs are wooden chairs, people might buy into the fact that it was taken in the old days.

    I like vintage things too. There are things that modern gadgets can never replace. I wonder where technology can take us to. Yes Life has improved but the world has not become better.

    Take care,
    Felicity

  • February 18, 2013
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    really really beautiful pictures you super skilled bad girl.:-)

  • February 19, 2013
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    Oh, Veronica. These are so beautiful! Especially the one of you. 😉 Black and white is definitely a good prompt for you.

  • February 19, 2013
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    Love both the photos and the words. You have transmitted your love of reflections and shadows to me through cyberspace, and I am grateful!

  • February 19, 2013
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    Excellent B&W photos. I haven’t tried to take B&W with my Canon D50 DSLR but I tried to do some post editing in PhotoShop but my photos didn’t look as great as yours. Guess I need to practice more.

  • February 22, 2013
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    There are so many captures out there for black and white – and it has mood, something that can be harder to create with colour bouncing off everthing. Enjoyed your shots.

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