This weeks challenge is Nature in Black and White.

This topic is a part of my photography that I mostly have a hard time getting "it right" with some photos that I take thinking they would be good in black and white but, they don't turn out as well as I thought they would. So this will teach me a bit about taking nature photos for black and white.

This isn't a requirement but, I hope you will post the specifics on when (time of day, cloudy, sunny etc.), how (editing) and why your submission was converted to black and white.

Some inspirational photos here for you to look at.

This challenge will run until Saturday April 19 at midnight AKDT (GMT -8). Looking forward to your submissions!

Every week, a new theme is picked and judged by the winner of the previous week. This challenge is Pentax-only.

Everyone is eligible to send in their best interpretation of the given theme, as long as the photo is taken with a Pentax/Samsung camera. Themes can be subject-oriented or technique-oriented.

Rules
1. Post ONE photo (max 1024x1024).
2. The photo must portray an interpretation of the theme.
3. Post your single picture in this thread and explain what motivated you to take the picture and/or how you feel it represents the weekly theme (especially if it's not obvious).
4. The challenge is interactive. Any response is welcome.
5. The judge will pick the WINNERS and choose one of them to be the judge for the next week.
6. This challenge runs for 7 days plus an additional day for the judge to choose the winners.
7. Any Pentax (or Samsung DSLR) camera can be used.
8. Pictures can be from any time frame, not just within the week of the current theme.
9. In case the winner of a challenge is unable to become the judge for the next challenge, they will PM the #2 winner for that person to be the judge.

[jmschrei]

I have many shots that would fit the bill for this theme. I decided to go with this, one of my favourite from last year. This reservoir is usually good for some dramatic landscapes especially in June when storms are more common and the water of the delta is kept low for breeding birds and waterfowl. Converting to black and white can allow you to pull more texture, detail and drama out of clouds, water, trees and snow. I frequently employ a red filter effect, it will make the blues deeper and the reds lighter. A good range of tones generally makes for a more interesting B&W. Silver Efex Pro is by far my favourite program to use for the conversion. It features a selective adjustment tool that allows you to fine tune areas of the image. For example in a landscape like this I often want to brighten the foreground a little.

[Arjay Bee]

Late afternoon, on board B&W K20D with ST 85mm ISO 200 resized only

[geomez]

I took this last weekend at Red Rocks National Conservation Area just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. Photographing the beautiful red rocks at a place names after those very red rocks, one might find it crazy to be rid the rocks of their natural red color. I converted this pic in post because even though the red and white lines looked nice, I was more interested in the texture. In monochrome, these rocks are textured lines that are regularly obscured by brilliant color. I also like it in b&w because it reminds me of street photography, where the walls converge like an alley and the rocks on the ground look like a collection of litter.

[Finchj]

Context: August 2nd, 2013. Helsinki, Finland @ 3:00pm. Sunny.
Camera set up: K-7, 18-55 WR, f8, 1/160, iso 200 @ 55mm, hand held.
PP in Darktable: Lens correction -> cropped for composition (heavy crop) -> converted to B&W -> contrast, highlight + shadow adjustment -> sharpen -> exported to current size

Although I like this photo in color as well as B&W, I think the color version draws our eyes to the complementary colors of the ladybug (Coccinellidae spp) and the field sow thistle (Sonchus arvensis). The reaction, then, is to say how cute the ladybug is and ignore the other subject in the photograph.

In B&W, however, the subjects can be considered for what they are rather than how they look. The sow thistle family of plants are highly dispersive, easily colonizing disturbed soils. They are also a favorite plant for aphids. Thistles have a terrible reputation.

While many will destroy these plants on sight, there is another way to look at them. Because they become beacons for aphids, they can act as both trap crops and do well to attract beneficial insects, such as the ladybug. If a gardener is willing to manage their flowering, the field sow thistle can be a beneficial plant in the garden.

---------- Post added 04-13-14 at 05:35 AM ----------

Great submissions so far, by the way. Hope to see more !

[Tamia]

What wonderful entries so far. Great theme, RollsUp. Here's my humble submission:

Reflected Bedrock



Photographed almost at high noon on an overcast day in July. I was after the rock outcrop's texture, foliation, and fractures, as well as its mirror-like reflection in a river pool which is only rarely so calm. Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC on a Pentax K200D, ISO 100 , f/16, 1/15 sec, aperture priority, hand-held. Unfortunately, at the time I had yet to understand the advantages of RAW so this was shot in JPEG.

Why black and white? A couple reasons. I think BW enhances form, texture, and contrast in some nature photos. This picture called out for BW, but the clincher was that the colors in this photo were bland, the water looked a bit muddy, and the rock is naturally shades of gray here.

I converted to BW by desaturating in GraphicConverter. This isn't the best way to convert but it was the application I had at the time. Then I used a 16:9 format to crop out uninteresting background and foreground elements that detracted from the main subject. This also created an almost symmetrical composition which I usually don't aim for, but which I think works for this picture.

With curves I did my best to bring out the rock texture, and this made the water and deep forest background black, or close enough. I liked how that framed the outcrop and reflection, while a couple of shrubs at the outcrop's top edge balanced the image and added scale. As a final tweak, I slightly sharpened the image. And of course, it's resized for the web.

[Clou]

RollsUp - I don't envy you for judging this one. The entries are excellent so far.

Here is my humble contribution.



Depth


A few words on the picture:
This was taken in the Bavarian prealps in October 2011 using the K-5 and a Tamron 70-200/2.8 at 70mm and f9 (ISO 160 and 1/640s)
The b/w conversion was made using the channel mixer.

The slight haze was bluish in the original picture - as one would expect.
For me the interesting part was the contrast between detailed structures in the foreground and the softer contours of the mountains in the background.
Human traces can be seen below the center in the foreground, the rest is devoid of human traces, another contrast.

Michael

[charliezap]

It was January 4th just a day after a coastal storm here in the Boston area. The wind was blowing over 20 mph and it was 17 degs at the time. I hoped that the B&W would lend to the cold feeling of the day.--charliezap

[fotogaffer]

These roots stretch across the mossy covered rock face looking for the least foothold to support the tree. This was taken during a hike in Algonquin at an overlook rest point where we had lunch. I almost deleted the original colour version as the day was overcast and grey with flat light and the image didn't convey the feeling I imagined. When I converted it to B&W however the image seemed to pop, emphasizing the creepy "tentacle-like roots" and the tenacity of the tree against all odds! This was a simple monochrome conversion in Aperture with a tweak in contrast and definition. Taken with the K-01 and DA 21mm.

[atupdate]

Interesting theme this week.



Tim

[tessfully]

Spectacular entries! Not something I am very good at even though I live 7 months of the year in a black and white environment. Here is one from a canoe trip a couple years ago.

[jacamar]

We try to make it to Long Point, Ontario in the very early spring each year to see the spectacle of thousands of Tundra Swans stopping over on their migration from the eastern seaboard to their breeding grounds in the Arctic and Hudson Bay. They forage in the cornfields just as the snow is melting. I felt that the whiteness of the birds and the snow in the landscape made for a better effect in B&W than many of my nature shots.

[rbefly]

Good theme, RollsUp! Here's my entry, taken last November on a photo club (Meetup group) sunrise hike through Cherry Creek State Park.
This sunrise made for some great low-angle lighting and here I played tag with the starbursts, trying for a bit of flare but not too much. I added 0.7EV to retain the shadow detail and converted in LR4. I felt that the scene, contrast, texture and mood were enhanced by a B + W conversion.
K-5, DA35mm f/2.4AL. F/5.6, 1/20s (tripod, CPL), ISO 80.
Ron

[OrangeKx]

Image captured with a tripod mounted Pentax ZX-M loaded with Kodak 400TX. Developed the B&W film myself and scanned the negs into LR4 via an Epson V500 Photo scanner. Not much post processing, just clean-up stuff. Taken in Camas, WA in the afternoon.

---------- Post added 04-14-14 at 08:11 AM ----------

Tough competition here already, folks. Don't be shy... post those pics.

[sealonsf]

Hm... I don't think I can compete with some of these excellent landscape images, so I think I'll go a different direction:

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