Challenge Accepted

by Kelly

“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson

When a friend, a fellow photographer and kindred spirit whose art you both respect and admire, encourages you to try something new with your own photography...you take heed.

"Now I want to see you do a series in B&W that is wide angle, includes people, and is underexposed. I want to see the Kelly shot of that."

To my friend Pam, challenge accepted.

In her original comment, Pam referenced Henri Cartier-Bresson, so before I started on this journey, I did a little research to find out more about his life and art.  I learned that Henri was French photographer who famous for his candid, street-style photography.  He shot almost exclusively in black & white and preferred to shoot events inconspicuously.  He also preferred to focus on small details believing that "the smallest thing can be a great subject."

For Henri, the technical aspects of photography were always secondary to "seeing"...they existed only to help him express what he saw with his mind's eye.  And it was with this intention that I spent the better half of the month of June, looking for opportunities to capture the moments that touched my heart. Such as my parents dancing to Unchained Melody on my back porch.

Or an afternoon on the lake with my girl.

Even ordinary, everyday moments seem to stand out in black and white.

If you have following this blog for very long at all, you probably are aware that I rarely shoot in black and white.  But after seeing these photos, it reminds me that there is something about this format that feel timeless and special to me.  I love that.

But mostly what I love is continuing to grow as a photographer.  Finding new ways to capture the moments that touch my heart.

Thank you, Pam, for your encouragement and your friendship and for helping me to grow in my art.

All my love, 

Kelly

Black & White -- Are they colors?

by Terri

After our month of focusing on colors, I started thinking -- are black and white colors?  When I was a child, I remember my grandfather telling me that white was the absence of color and white was the presence of all color.  But when I went to research this, I found the following on Yahoo:

"It depends on whether you are thinking of light or pigments.

In light, black is the total absence of light, or absorption of all frequencies of light. while white is the presence of all frequencies of light. We tend to think of this as the RGB way of colors - mixing red, green and blue, you finish up with a whole range of colors, depending on the "intensity" of each color.

With pigments, black comes from mixing together all the different possible pigments, which is why print media (which usually go on white paper) use the KYCM (black, yellow, cyan and magenta) to get specific colors. Oh, there is a special pigment for white, if one is not using white paper.

So, are black and white 'colors'? Not really, but they are a major component in how we think of other colors."

I think that, as photographers, we see with light rather than pigments. Our last week of August Break will be focusing on the color white.  Is it a color?  You decide!