“January is the month for dreaming”― Jean Hersey
Welcome back to the 52-week photo challenge. This week the assignment was to photograph something in black and white. Since I was already in downtown Sacramento this week, I went on a hunt for things I thought would translate well to black and white. I looked for interesting lines, shapes, and buildings I thought looked out of time. While some of the images really didn’t work, I did find some I felt good enough to share here.
As I can only submit one photo to the challenge, I’d love to know which of these is your favorite. My favorites are the first three images and I’m leaning toward the train station. What do you think?
Thanks as always for cheering me on and have a wonderful day!
Here are a few bonus photos I liked better in color:
- Photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW
- If you want to join the 52 Photo Challenge, you can find all the information at nicolesy.com.
The barbed wire one is my favorite!
Thanks!
I also like the barbed wire shot
Okay! Thanks!
The first one (tower) or the doorway reflections.
Thanks! I like that one too. It’s really pretty in color too-it’s multicolored glass.
I’m all about the barbed wire. If it is of the first three, train station.
I’m surprised everyone seems to like the barbed wire photo. I appreciate your feedback. 😊
Wonder if that says something about the collective we…
Or perhaps the evocative nature of the subject. We all attach emotion to barbed wire—a thing meant for keeping us out.
Hi Bridgette; thanks for your thoughtful comments; I’ve read a few of your tales, enough to know you’re an accomplished writer already; have you tried submitting any of these ?
Thanks, John. Do you mean my photos or stories? The answer is no to both, but I’ve been thinking about it.
your stories; you are an accomplished writer with a solid body of work ; it is time to consider submitting a few of your stories and test the market —
Thank you so much, John. I do plan on trying to submit a few short stories this year for publication, and you’ve just given me the push to start researching places to send submissions to. I’m very grateful for your kindness and support.
that’s great, Bridgette; let me know how it goes: you’re embarking on a splendid journey 🙂
Will do! Thank you for the encouragement.
Wow! Fabulous. These are awesome, gorgeous pics. Great share, dear Bridgette. ❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊
Thanks! I’m so glad you liked them.
Train station. Up the contrast a tiny bit.
Thank you. I re-uploaded it with the contrast adjusted
I like all of them. I agree, the train station is a good one.
Thanks, Greg. I like all the different textures and layers of the train station photo. The others are more simple but beautiful in their own way.
These are fabulous & awesome all Black and White photography.
But I much like third one’s 😜.
Beautiful barbed wire.
Amazing bonus photo shoot, Bridgette 🌹
Thanks! I’m so glad you liked that photo, too! There is something so evocative and emotional about barbed wire isn’t there?
I don’t know barbed wire.
Isn’t here?
Thanks, Bridgette!
I thought barbed wire was everywhere. How interesting!
Better and better! Your photos are great! 🌹🙋♂️
Awww…thank you! What a kind comment 🙂
Great photos, Bridgette. My favourites are the train station and also the barbed wire, which seems to be the first choice of many of your readers. Out of the colour photos, I like the last one best. It’s almost got a sepia feel about it, which I find appealing. You really are a skilled photographer. Xx 💜🌼💜
Thank you, Ellie. I really love the last photo too. The bird looks so lovely in the orange sky. It made me happy to see color after all the grey rain of the last month.
Hi. I must admit that I like shot of the passage way. It’s like looking into a sterile fantasy world from the outside if that makes sense.
Oh, I love that! It’s the entrance to my daughter’s therapy, which I suppose is a sterile fantasy world in itself. It would be interesting to write a story about a building absorbing the stories told within a therapists office, being reshaped by them. Oh…I might really have to write that now!
Sounds like a fabulous story idea! I look forward to reading it on your blog 😁
Definitely the train station, but the old warehouse/building with busted out windows has a unique appeal to it
Thank you! I really like the busted out windows too. I’m not sure why I’m always drawn to broken things…maybe it says something about me.
Bridgette, you nicely captured the various lines from different things. I love the bridge and the barbed wire ones, especially. It’s funny, barbed wire paints a nicer picture than its purpose. Keith
You are so correct, Keith. Barbed wire isn’t a nice or pleasant thing, but my camera eye is always drawn to it. Thank you for the feedback.
Gorgeous
Thank you!
Bonito post. Un cordial saludo 👏
Thank you!
Great work! I love #3 and the light bulb one
Thank you so much!
Personally I love depth and reflections but strangely the barbed wire has a story locked in it. Maybe that is my background. Good luck. I hope you choose well.
Yes, I think barbed wire has a lot of history and stories attached to it. It definitely elicits an emotional response.
I liked the train station
Thank you, Brenda!
I know/think it’s the US? But reminded me of France
You are right, it’s in California, but I think many of the railway stations around the world look very similar. Isn’t there something so intriguing about trains?
I commute regularly by train, but I do love the promise of adventure they bring
I so love black and white photography, as it gives the viewer the chance to insert color where needed and change the overall experience of any given photo. <3
I agree! It allows us to fall into the image in a way color doesn’t quite match.
I can’t choose between the train station and the barbed wire… excellent photography, Bridgette!!!
Thanks, Patti! Those are the two I keep going back and forth on.
It’s a difficult choice!
Good images.
Thanks, Peter!
These are all great, I really like the window one!
Thanks!!
My pleasure!
1’s statue is simple and bold, 2’s station has many focal points to draw the eye, and 6 has some great office-block silhouettes that compliment each other well. The barbed wire has plentiful connotations that invoke deep emotions. Lovely snapshots! 🙂
Thank you so much, Tom! It was a fun exercise to look for things that would pop when photographed in black and white. I’m headed out today to try my hand at blurs…not feeling as confident as I’ve never taken a good blur shot before. Wish me luck!
I definitely like the first one of the storage unit. I has a sort of bleak atmosphere around it that makes you feel a little bit melancholic.
Thank you, Felic. I agree, it’s a bit sad and also looks like it could belong in any time period.
I’m a little late to respond, but I like the window with the reflection of the tree in it.
Thank you. I rather like that one too. I ultimately used the train one for my assignment, but the window one got extra treatment as a poetry subject (which I think you saw).
Yes, I did notice that. 🙂
For the black and white, i love the second picture after the soldier….The one that looks like a metro station(or a train station).
Like it’s speaking to me about something.
Thank you! That’s the one I ended up using. I love the layers of it and train stations always speak to me of adventure and fresh starts.
For the coloured pictures ,there’s a conflict of choice between the sea and bird in the sky….but the lonely bird(looks like an eagle or another big bird) in the coloured sky is more endearing…Has some hidden messages.
Thank you! I love the lone image of a bird in the sky and take a lot of shots like this one. I wonder what it says about me…
I love photos that tell a story. Like so many others, I love the barbed wire shot. You have a gift for photography.
What a kind thing to say, Don. Thank you!
I liked them all but the one with the mirror or window and the tree with the chandelier best
Thank you so much!
Beautiful pics! I especially like the sky photos.
Thank you!!
I think my favorite is the third down, the reflected light in the doorway. The depth of the glass is so interesting with the shadow of the tree and the border glass. Plus it has really nice light and dark. The train is second in that it has true black and white, something I always look for in black and white (as opposed to just shades of gray.)
Thank you! The window shot was really an afterthought, a quick photo after dropping my daughter off at therapy. I ended up really liking it 🙂
Your advice about looking for true black and white (not grey) is something I strive for.
Great shots. My favourite is the one with the lone bird in the sky and the building and lamp post on the left. Great minimalism 🙂 But they’re all very evocative.
Thank you! I’m quite fond of pictures of birds in flight.
I never edit my photos except to crop them sometimes. I am less fond of the train station due to modernity. The water tower speaks to me minus the graffiti and the second one is my favorite. 🙂
I’m glad you like that one. It was fun to play with black-and-white.
I have never done black and white. I assume it is a setting I can choose on my phone camera and probably my other cameras as well. 🙂