Innocence of Admiration

Black And White Photography

“There is an innocence in admiration; it is found in those to whom it has never yet occurred that they, too, might be admired some day.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Innocence of Admiration in Black and White

ss 1/640 f 5.6 ISO 400 60mm macro

white backdrop, natural light – full sun, manual settings, manual focus

You guessed it! The Gerber Daisy represents innocence in the Victorian language of flowers. To see this flower in color, visit my blog at Robyn Graham Photography. I would love to hear which you prefer – color or black and white. Do you find the Gerber Daisy worthy of admiration in the absence of color?

Have a fabulous weekend!

The Arabian and His Rider

Black And White Photography

The Arabian and his Rider

The Arabian and his Rider II

Today I am sharing two images because I thought it fun to compare perspectives and demonstrate that by moving around a subject, we change the feel and emotions of a photograph. When we move around our subjects we capture light in a different perspective. Light is photography so it is important to watch it and use it to capture our subjects – using it to our benefit. The presence or absence, angle, color, and intensity of light truly can change the meaning of an image.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Rest Under the Trees

Black And White Photography, Photography

A Rest Under the Trees – with a Sunburst to Please

ss 1/100 f 5.6 ISO 400 24-70 mm f2.8 at 66mm

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” – John Lubbock

Mystery of Modesty

Black And White Photography, Photography

Mystery of Modesty

Nikon D800, 60mm macro lens – manual focus, ss 1/2500, f 5.6, ISO 400

Those of you who know me from following my personal blog, Robyn Graham Photography, know that a significant portion of my fine art body of work is flowers. Not only do I love flowers as subject matter, but I love the language of flowers. Most, if not all, of my floral images are named based on the meaning of the flower in the Victorian Language of flowers in addition to the color of the flower and the meaning of the color. Many people have asked me if I have read the book “Language of Flowers” by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. The answer is yes and I loved it, but even prior to reading the book, my love affair for flowers and their meaning were a significant part of my work.

When working with most of my subjects I tend to use aperture as my voice. Using a shallow depth of field can be tricky when photographing flowers but when used appropriately it can be a very powerful tool for effectively capturing light and creating emotion. I am presently working on a new series with ballet pointe shoes. All of the images thus far have been black and white and aperture has been the priority technique in my work process. If you are interested in black and white photography and/or ballet, the series has just begun, but there are a couple of images on my personal blog.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

A Game of Chase in the Garden

Black And White Photography, Photography

I was supposed to be packing for a weekend of lacrosse at Penn State when I took a last-minute walk around the garden.

My senses came alive to the sight of butterflies, the sound of bees buzzing, and the aroma of Hydrangeas.

An impatient chase ensued, and I was able to capture a few magnificent creatures. Above, is a butterfly or two.

Sunset Silhouette

Black And White Photography

Sunset Silhouette

Such a great feeling to run and jump freely across the beach with the water lapping at your feet as each foot step lands softly on the warm, golden sand.

Pure delight, pure joy!

Magic in the Garden

Black And White Photography

The garden sure is magical this time of year! This is zucchini blossom, tucked deep inside the vines. The light drifted in and out of the vines while I worked, the beauty of it all caught my eye and I had to capture it.

To see this blossom, and more in color, you can visit Robyn Graham Photography.

Serpent Star Fish

Black And White Photography

Well, it’s one of those weeks when mistakes have been made…that’s allowed, right? I took my computer in to have additional memory installed because all of my raw files are taking up so much space. I was so focused on getting “work” done before being without it, that I completely forgot to write my post for this week for Monochromia. So, desperately not wanting to disappoint, I searched my iPhone photograph library. Thankfully I had a few images from our trip to Grand Cayman that I had converted to black and white using the photo app. I selected one and emailed the image above of a Serpent Star Fish to our family laptop and voila, I have a post.

The picture isn’t the greatest quality as it was taken with my phone, but I found this creature to be quite intriguing and the composition was satisfactory. The Star Fish crawled out of a large Conch shell and drew quite a crowd on the beach. Kids stopped in their tracks, stopped playing catch, and ran to see what we’d found.

I had never seen a Star Fish like it before, but when we flipped it over to examine it, it had little tentacles and looked just like a Star Fish on the bottom. Upon doing an on-line search, we discovered that it was indeed a Star Fish – a Serpent Star Fish. Have you ever seen one? The center was black as coal.

Have a great weekend!

Black and White Flower

Black And White Photography

SS 1/60 f10.0 ISO 400

This image was taken last week during a trip to Grand Cayman Island. I found the flower on the ground when visiting the Botanical Garden and placed it on a fence railing to photograph it. I am not quite sure what the name of this flower is, but am thinking it must be in either the anemone or daisy families.

Monochromia appears to be off to a fabulous start. I am thrilled to be part of this endeavor and honored to have been selected by Joe from The Visual Chronicle to be part of this creative and inspiring group of artists.

This is the first time I’ve posted to Monochromia so please let me introduce myself. My name is Robyn and I am from the Northeastern portion of the United States. I have been interested in photography since childhood but only began working as a professional photographer a few years ago. My complete story, bio, and artist statement can be found on my website, which I will include below.

I love photography and my motto is “Capturing Life One Image at a Time”. Photography is part of my heart and soul. I enjoy both film and digital photography, but because of expense and time, I tend to shoot more digital photographs at present. My work includes portraiture, landscapes, seascapes, animals, and more. My favorite subject is flowers.

As this blog is meant for black and white photography, you will only see my black and white floral work presented within. Some will argue that flowers are meant to be photographed in color, but I believe that statement to be too generalized. You’ll have to let all of us at Monochromia know your thoughts on black and white flowers.

Look for my posts at Monochromia on Thursdays. In addition, to learn more about me and my body of work please visit my blog; Robyn Graham Photography. I’ll look forward to hearing from you both here at Monochromia, and at my own site.

Have a fabulous weekend!