Travesty

1/29/11 - Week 5
I thought this stuff is best served warm!  Found this shot while wandering around Goose Island with Frank before taking a black & white conversion class at Calumet Photo.

This image is serving a couple of purposes.  1) last post for this week's Project52 theme of B/W Conversion, and 2) inaugural submission for the Flickr group Frank and I are starting called TrashTalkTuesday (http://www.flickr.com/groups/trashtalktuesday/)

Snow Dunes

2/1/11 - Week 5
Another shot from the Chicago blizzard of 2011.  The wind was howling and swirling, filling in footsteps to look like moon craters.  With more photoshop skills, I could have had some fun with this since there is no scale reference. Converted to b/w using Silver Efex Pro.

Wings of Power

1/29/11 - Week 5
Took this SymmetriCam shot during my photo shoot on Goose Island with Frank.  Converted to b/w in Lightroom.

After the Plow

2/2/11 - Week 5
Part of the ~5' snow drift on my driveway.  I converted the image to b/w in Lightroom but decided to keep the blue bokeh created by a passing car.  Looks like some snow animals are coming to life in the shapes of the chunks.

Another Nutcase

2/1/11 - Week 5
Potentially the biggest snow storm Chicago's seen in over 40 years (coming down at 1.5" per hour with 40mph winds) and I'm out taking pictures after getting off the train.  Apparently, I'm not alone.  Didn't notice this guy until I put the image in the computer.  I was shooting with a 35mm f1.8 so this is a big crop; then converted with Silver Efex Pro.

Lots of Bricks in the Wall

1/31/11 - Week 5
Posted for Daily Shoot assignment #442: "Make a photograph that features repetition."  The difference between this brick wall and every other one is the detail in the jointery.  Not the typical raked joint.

Stump Monster

1/30/11 - Week 5
While this shot was taken earlier in January, I experimented today with b&w conversion.

Up & Over

1/29/11 - Week 5
This shot was taken on the Halsted Street bridge over a branch of the Chicago River.  There has been no sun, and therefore no hard light, but this bridge structure provides some strong shadow for Daily Shoot #441: "Make a photograph using hard light today.  Feature the crisp and strong shadows as a major element of your photograph."  It is a stretch, but I'm submitting it anyway.

Why Eight?

1/29/11 - Week 5
Frank and I took a class today on black & white conversion.  I felt like a kindergarten kid in a high school physics class.  Pretty complicated stuff.  Therefore, before trying any of the techniques provided at the class, thought I'd try Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro plug-in.  This shot is taken on the Halsted Street bridge over a branch of the Chicago River.  I didn't understand the reasoning behind the pattern in the steel plate at the top of the bridge.

Week 5 ☞ 01.29.11 - 02.04.11

Theme: Black & White Conversion 
 

This week my friend Frank and I are taking a course called "Every Black and White Conversion Technique Known to Man with Vincent Versace."  Naturally, this week's theme therefore should be based on applying this new knowledge. 

For this week's shots, other than those undergoing b/w conversion, please check out my Flickr Photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffm211/