Another B&W Walkabout

The weather report on KUOW this morning told us that there is rain a comin', so I hurried out for another walk around the neighborhood. I try to get at least a few new streets on each walk, but there is quite a bit of overlap.



What's new this time is not the lens (same 35 mm as the last couple days) nor the fact that I'm shooting in B&W. Today, because the sun is bright, I set the camera to underexpose by one stop. This, of course, means that I had to boost the dark areas a bit. As a result, the highlights are not the result of lowering them but are just their creamy goodness as recorded. As you see in the first image above, the texture and details of the flower petals is really quite nice.

Even the dandelion is especially detailed.

I find these images particularly interesting since I'm not using a macro lens, just focusing as closely as I can with a regular lens.

Usually, I do the B&W conversion in the computer and make separate adjustments for the red, yellow, and the like to get the various gradations of tone I like.

For all these images, the conversion is done in camera and I am surprisingly happy with the result. Notice how the backlit portions of the flower petals have an almost transparent appearance in the way the layers of shadow build up.

Even the waxy tree leaf turns out nicely when underexposed a bit. You can see all the tiny details in the surface that would otherwise be overexposed and lost.

You will have noticed in the past (you pay attention to these things, right?) that I often like to underexpose the flower backgrounds to bring you focus to the flower itself. This technique seems to take care of this almost automatically.

Things other flowers in bright sunlight also work well. This fence gate hinge in the shade only needed the blacks lifted a bit and we got lots of detail in the wood surface.

By not overexposing and then recovering the whites of these flowers and by shooting at f/11, I get the full texture and details of nearly all the flowers in this bunch.

This small, unassuming flower alongside the road has also benefited as well.

Finally, we have this last bunch of flowers painting a picture in various shades of white.

Hope you enjoy these as much as I did getting and processing them for you!

Stay safe and healthy.