Thursday, October 30, 2014

Five day b&w challenge

I was nominated for the 5 day Facebook B&W challenge by my old college roommate(once a roommate, always a roommate), Sandy Hill.
Black and white photography, one of my favorite kinds of photography.  The medium of photography has changed tremendously since I first picked up a camera, and first developed a roll of film.  Sadly, years ago I donated my darkroom to Wellesley High School.  I was happy that all of the equipment was going to be used, but sad to pass it along, as the darkroom was where the magic happened.
There was a time where I had hours to spend in a darkroom, creating what I thought was the perfect print.  These days, in between baseball games and other commitments, I would not have time to spend printing, toning and washing.  Now, it is all done on the computer.  No set up time, no darkroom gloves, or face mask (which I wore not to inhale the chemistry).  Just the computer and my tablet.  Still, I enjoy the creation of the b&w image.
The emotion found in b&w images is powerful.

Here are 4 of my 5 shots for the B&W challenge.  Day 5 is tomorrow, so that shot will have to wait.
Day 1: photo from this summer of Willy at Lac Brule.  Captured in color, and converted to B&W



Day 2:  Willy (again), Abbie and Timmy racing on the beach.  Isn't this what childhood should be?  So carefree and enjoying the great outdoors.  I think Willy won this race.  The only thing better would be if I had all five of my kids in this shot.
Day 3:  I went back in time.  Had to dig through some boxes and scan, but well worth it.  I took this in 1984.  Cliff & Eleanor.  They lived in a house with no plumbing in Maine.  The shot was lit with just a bare bulb and shot 4x5.  
Day 4:  I wasn't sure what to post today.  So many photos over the years, hard to pick just a select few. This shot is from my first trip to haiti, January 2013.  It will be in my upcoming exhibit at the Newton Free Library January 2015.  The opening is January 8, put it on your calendar.

Day 5: tomorrow



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