Photography

Guest Post – C.S. Young – Rustic

Black And White Photography, C.S. Young Jr., Photography

It’s my pleasure to introduce our newest Guest Contributor C.S. Young

A small farm cabin off of Hwy 150 in Caswell County

When I was sixteen, my next-door neighbor introduced me to black & white photography, film processing and enlarging. I was intrigued. During my senior year in high school, I studied photography under Byron Baldwin at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, NC. The program offered an intensive study of black & white photography. I was hooked. Later, I would go on to enhance my technique in the Commercial Photography program at Randolph Technical College.

I remember loading a film spool in pitch darkness and sealing the loaded reel in a small stainless steel processing tank. Next came the chemicals; developer, stop bath and fixer. Then, using an enlarger to expose the negative on photographic paper, dodge and burn, and then watching with anticipation as the print revealed itself through a similar sequence of chemicals. Finally came cutting matts and mounting the best work.

In many cases, I find color in photography to be a distraction. Perceiving color takes a lot of mental processing overhead. Creatively, black & white offers a more heightened awareness of texture, patterns, shapes, tonality and use of dark & light space. I also feel the intensively manual process of shooting, developing and printing black & white afforded me a deep appreciation of how silver halides in a film or paper medium responded to controlled exposure to light.

I can appreciate those who currently take time to shoot with and process black & white film. For me, I’m satisfied working a digital workflow which usually completes with a software emulation of Agfa APX 100 b&w film using Alien Skin’s Exposure.

Cheers,
C. S.

To visit my website please click – here

A Place In The Sun

Black And White Photography, Photography, Steven

A place in the sun © Steven Willard

I marvel how Hollywood manages to adapt novels into screenplays and then into movies. It’s hard for me to imagine Theodore Dreiser ever dreaming that his novel “American Tragedy” (1923) could be transformed into the movie “A Place in the Sun” (1951) starring the ever moody Montgomery Clift and the translucent Elizabeth Taylor. The general plot is the same, or similar enough that there has been no argument about attribution, but just about everything else, location, names and title have been changed. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a terrific movie, it is, but it argues in favor for the talent of the screen writers (Michael Wilson and Harry Brown) and director George Stevens. Worth watching.

For me, a place in the sun, means something different. It’s a place to sit and enjoy a few quiet minutes in the warm glow of afternoon, and someone interesting to share it with.

Pentax K5IIs processed in PS Cs4.

Please join me at my blog https://stevenwillardimages.wordpress.com