A Black & White Texture Tuesday

Do you know how absolutely, incredibly difficult it is to be thinking in black & white when my world is now so full of color?  I know, I know some things look better in b&w just like some things go better with Coke....(huh??)  But since Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday is all about b&w this week, here are a couple of my latest attempts.  Admittedly they are NOT absolutely b&w, but as close as I'm gonna get today.

And one more....I remember as a child my Mother fixing my hair like this, rolling it in pin-curls thinking it was cute, but when I look at those pictures now, not cute.  This little girl reminded me of those photos.

Until next time.....

Five Senses Friday - The March 16, 2012 Edition

With my bedroom windows open because of this absolutely beautiful, warm weather we have been enjoying, I woke up to the sound of birds chirping.  What a lovely melody, so much nicer than the beep beep beep of the alarm clock.

You can just catch a glimpse of Mr. Robin's red breast....they have flooded our neighborhood. Everywhere I look I see Robins, a definite sign that Spring has arrived.  Hearing them with their pleasant chirping sounds is like a Spring Concerto with Mother Nature as the conductor.

It won't be long before bird-houses will have new tenants.....(the dreamy look of the birdhouse is no special trick....I just shot it thru the screen of the back-porch since I wasn't dressed yet and my neighbors have seen me too many times in bathrobe and slippers, I kinda like it)

It was less than 1/2 later, now dressed, I walked out into the backyard, and Mr. Sparrow was all ready to claim a spot in the birdhouse and it appears he is calling his friends & relatives to join him.  

Right after lunch, the phone rang....it was my good friend Marti calling to say she had Groupon coupons for the Gelato place in town.  Could I join her for a dish of gelato?  Yep, be right there.  I enjoyed a 1/2 caramel/peanut and 1/2 chocolate.  Had every intention of snapping a pic but too busy spooning the smooth, cold & creamy gelato into my waiting open mouth.

Marti in black & white.....

Decided to see if I liked more black & whites by converting some people images.  This new medium is beginning to grow on me.  The image below is our Bible Study leader, Margaret.  Love all that texture in her hair.

And this cutie lives a couple of houses from me.  It was hard for me to change this to b&w since she has beautiful blue eyes.

After I returned from my gelato trip, the weather was just so incredibly wonderful, I did not want to stay indoors.  Me and my camera walked around the neighborhood seeking spring delights and we were not disappointed.  My neighbor's yard had a few daffodils nodding their heads.....

She also had a bush with these blue berries which were probably left from Fall, but how pretty they were next to the bright green of the new leaves.....

Across the street, Forsythia bushes were in bloom.  Ahh the smells of Spring.  If all this is happening now, what will we see in April and May??

Feeling good about a day well spent, enjoying the outdoors and spending time with a good friend.

"A friend is what the heart needs all the time."  ~  Henry Van Dyke

Until next time.....

A Black & White Mood

I know the birds are chirping and the early spring buds are sprouting which means color will return to the landscape, but somehow this week I am drawn to more b&w images.  Maybe it's because the Kim Klassen class Beyond Layers is focusing on b&w this week, maybe it's because Tracey Clark's B&W Class is open for registration, or maybe because I am just in that kinda of a mood.  My husband is still not doing well and that puts me in a gray mood.  I have such a fondness for the colors of spring, the pinks, the whites, the yellows, the purples in all their glorious hues.  But today it is black and white.

Black & White really accentuates the thorns on a cactus.....

It also highlights the edges of a jug....

It  reminds us of the starkness of the trees in winter....

I really didn't have to change this to B&W....it is a black ant crawling along my white fence, peeling paint and all.....

And finally, my fav of this bunch....a little girl I captured with my lens in Phoenix.  I think she is just precious and love her shy little look....

"Unlike any other visual image, a photograph is not a rendering, an imitation or an interpretation of its subject, but actually a trace of it. No painting or drawing, however naturalist, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does."  ~  John Berger

Linking to Deb's This or That Thursday

Until next time.....

A Little Texture on a Tuesday....

I am participating in Kim Klassen's Beyond Layers class and have so enjoyed her posts, her tutorials, and her generosity (beyond compare).  This week it is all about b&w....I admire other's b&w work, but I tend to think in color when I take photos...so it is always a struggle for me to think in b&w and what will look good in b&w.  Tracey Clark is offering a b&w class over at Big Picture Classes that I am very tempted to take to get more comfortable with this medium.  Do you know how difficult it is for me to change a beautiful soft orange ranunculus into a b&w with no color....it is like rubbing chalk on a blackboard, but sometimes I am pleasantly surprised by the results.

I really did (promise I did) like this when I converted this beauty into a b&w with soft brown tones.  I am thinking I might enlarge this and hang it in my husband's room.  Linking this to Kim's Texture Tuesday  Next week her challenge is b&w. so look's like I jumped the gun a wee bit this week, but then I always  was a little before my time kinda girl.

This I thought was kinda interesting because of the different textures....I took this in Arizona (ofcourse I took this in Arizona...see the cactus, you don't find containers full of cactus in Chicago)

And this one I took here the Saturday before I left on my trip to Arizona.  I love the light and the little circles of bokeh.  Between this and the pic above is about 1750 miles....the differences are amazing.

This I captured in my daughter's small garden.  Poor St. Francis, he is certainly showing his age.

So that's it....my little venture into b&w....more next week.

"Nothing in life is more exciting and rewarding than the sudden flash of insight that leaves you a changed person."  ~  Arthur Gordon

Until next time.....