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Writer's pictureAngie Mahlke

March: Highlight Reel, 2

I have always loved black and white photography. I think it dates back to when I took a film photography class in high school and I loved watching the colorless images gradually appear in the solution. There is just something so classic and timeless about a black and white photo.


My kids would disagree, though. They always grumble when they see an image on my computer screen stripped of color. "Why did you do that again, Mommy?" they demand to know. I realize that general feeling of not comprehending the true beauty of a black and white conversion is not limited to my children. Some people simply prefer color; and that's okay. Even if you aren't on the conversion bus, you can still appreciate the skill and work it takes to create a successful black and white image.


Experimenting with different types of light. Learning what colors convert well and which ones turn your subject into gray blobs. Playing with compositions and crops and other technical aspects. Black and white photography is more than just stripping an image of color simply to avoid getting the tricky colors right. It's an art form worthy of celebration.


And celebrate it we did this month!! Oh how I've loved seeing all your emotional and moody and light-hearted images!! I'm going to be a bit sad once color returns to our community, but I'm excited to see where our journey together takes us.





Gear: Canon 6D Mark 2 24-70mm

Settings: IS0 200 Shutter 1/3200 f.5

The Shot: I grabbed my focus in the spot that I wanted to take the shot and waited for them both to swing back into focus.

Post Processing: I thought the was a good photo for b&w as the sky was quite cloudy and I thought the photo would have more visual impact. I upped the dehaze, and clarity, plus also the shadows and slightly the blacks and exposure (I had exposed for the sky so they were slighter underexposed) I bought down the highlights and that was about it.




Gear: Canon 5dmiii ; 50 mm

Settings: 1/200 ; 2.5 ; 1600

The Shot: This was tough, mainly as my son wasn’t in the most cooperative mood. I had a window to camera left, and positioned him so the light hit him but didn’t cause any reflections. The background I kept dark so just to highlight him.

Post Processing: I did basics in LR (corrected WB a smidge, sharpness highlights and shadows) Brought into PS; applied Megan Boggs BNW preset one CR; took away grain upped highlights and contrast. I then duplicated the layer and opened CR again. Downed the shadows and blacks, but applied only to the background to darken it and make him pop.




Gear: Nikon D750, 85mm

Settings: f2, 1/2000, ISO 320

The Shot: I had the vision for this photo but it wasn't raining outside. So I had her look out the window & I sprayed the glass with some water. I struggled with glare on her face at first until I found the right angle to shoot at. I also had a hard time with my shadow being "in the way".

Post Processing: This ended up being very bright SOOC with highlights where I didn't want them and the window glare being more prominent than I had hoped. I basically burned the background and then put a "rainy window" overlay on the photo to give it the look I was going for. I also expanded the canvas to give the image more negative space.




Gear: Canon 6dii, lensbaby sol45

Settings: 1/500sec iso250 f/3.5

The Shot: I got down close to the ground and focused on the puddle and then asked him to drive through it.

Post Processing: Flipped it vertically and then converted to b&w. Used a radial filter to bring up the highlights in the puddle and keep him as a silhouette. Upped clarity and texture.




Gear: Canon 5D Mark iv + Canon 28mm 1.8

Settings: 2.8 1/250 ISO 600

The Shot: My son has spent the last couple of days as a superhero, I managed to get him to freeze underneath his wooden name sign, in his bedroom, and aim for the moon!

Post Processing: Edited in LR, converted to black and white, increased contrast and clarity, increased the luminosity of orange (to make skin pop), added gradient filters to decrease the exposure to the right of him.




Gear: Nikon D750 and 24mm lens

Settings: F/2.8, 1/200, ISO1250

The Shot: The sun had already set and my daughter wanted so bad for me to take a photo of her (bless her cotton socks). My husband said "try a torch and play with shadows", so I did. This was done using a very bright LED flashlight and a plastic food basket of the kids. I moved the basket and torch around (one handed) until I got the shadows where I wanted them.

Post Processing: Edited with Brittany Chandler moody black and white preset and had to play with the noise slider a lot for this one. I also tweaked contrast and clarity.




Gear: Sony a7ii- 28mm

Settings: 1/250. 7.1. ISO 100

The Shot: Shot at the beach during our late afternoon walk, the sun was starting to set and sky was looking a little dramatic.

Post Processing: I edited it first for colour - bringing down highlights and adding a little warmth and contrast and then added a black and white preset over the photo.




Gear: Nikon d750 + 85mm

Settings: ISO 100, f1.8, ss1/800

The Shot: I quickly shot this during a surprise snow as he decided it was too cold and was headed back inside.

Post Processing: I edited with a SMAL preset base and then raised shadows, whites, contrast and clarity on just him using a radial filter and then a brush.




Gear: Nikon D850, Lensbaby 50 Edge

Settings: ISO 100, 1/640

The Shot: Shot straight on to my family and adjusted my lensbaby until I liked where the focus was.

Post Processing: SMAL10 with tweaks, darkened blacks, adjusted exposure a tad, upped whites a tad, brought highlights all the way down, reduced grain. I also added a small sliver of sky to the top of the image in PS, so Dad's hat wasn't directly at the edge of the image.




Gear: Nikon D7500 with my Lensbaby Velvet 56

Settings: ISO 100 f/4 1/125s

The Shot: I just went outside to capture some nature in my backyard.

Post Processing: Converted to black and white, added contrast, clarity and texture, dehazed a bit and added a slight matte finish.




Gear: Sony A7RIII 70-200mm

Settings: 88mm f/5.0 1/320 sec ISO 100

The Shot: I missed sunrise on Sunday morning but rushed down to the beach anyway as I needed some 'me' time and some peace. I hot footed it onto the beach then realised that there were some beautiful rays happening so reversed right back up the track to get some foreground and some of beach to act as leading lines to the dog walker and rays in the distance.

Post Processing: Mostly LR. Basic edits - pulled down highlights and whites, increased blacks, gradient with lower exposure on the foreground and sky, brushed texture and dehaze on water and light rays. In PS I did some dodging and burning in selected areas.




Gear: nikon d3400, sigma 17-55mm 2.8

Settings: f/2.8 iso100 1/1600

The Shot: Since there isn't anywhere to go, puddles are as good a subject as any. My husband and I were coordinating with him throwing snowballs in a puddle and me snapping.

Post Processing: Edited in snapseed. Applied a bnw filter, increased clarity




Gear: Sony a7iii 24-70 2.8mm @24mm

Settings: ISO 2000 f/stop 3.2. SS 1/200

The Shot: My husband and two boys were in the shower and I got down on the floor and shot through the glass door. I loved the idea of all of their feet together in the shower.

Post Processing: I edited the photo in Lightroom. Didn't do much. Turned the photo to B/W. Took down the blacks, increased the exposure a touch and increased the luminance a little as well.




Gear: Sony NEX-6, 16 mm lens (APS-C sensor)

Settings: 1/500 s at f 3.2, ISO 100

The Shot: I exposed for the highlights because I wanted to create a silhouette.

Post Processing: In LR: Corrected slightly distorted vertical and horizontal lines using the Guided tool in the Tranform panel; pulled the shadows down and blacks and darks up; cropped a little tighter.




Gear: Canon 5D Mark III & my 35mm

Settings: ISO 100, f2, 1/500

The Shot: I was actually shooting this for the rainbow colored umbrella they were holding. I asked them to just hold hands & walk, & this is what I got. While I was editing it, I felt like it would make a good B&W, so I tried it, & actually like it more than the color version!

Post Processing: I edited it using a B&W preset from VSCO, the then moved all of the color sliders, as well as increasing contrast & clarity, & decreasing blacks.




Gear: Canon Rebel t6i; 24mm 2.8

Settings: ISO 800, f/2.8, 1/160

The Shot: My daughter woke up from her nap and was not pleased that I took out my camera for a few photos rather than picking her up instantly. I promise, no babies were harmed in the making of this photo. She was facing the only window in her room so the soft light from the window was falling on her face.

Post Processing: LR with Soulmate 12, removed grain, adjusted luminance slider, increased contrast, increased highlights/exposure on her face



Gear: Sony a7iii with a 50mm

Settings: ISO 50, f 2.0, 1/320

The Shot: It was sunset, golden hour so the light was beautiful. My toddler was playing at our homemade theater and with his favorite toy.

Post Processing: Lightroom: at first, I started editing in colors. After editing it the way I wanted, I converted the picture to black and white. I darkened the image using blacks, contrast, shadows, very low exposure. I crop the image and using the selecting brush I erased all the shadows I didnt want in it by darkening them. I just wanted to keep the bright outlines and brighten a little the objects that i wanted to appear in the picture.



Gear: Sony A7iii, Sony 35mm 1.8

Settings: F. 3.5, 1/125 iso 320

The Shot: The week before lock down we went to stay at my parents house by the beach. The sun had already set and the colours were incredible. It was a perfect night, you could even see the south island form the north island (new Zealand) I gave my dad the camera and told him to click away while my daughter and I played. It wasn't taken this week, but since editing it, and converting it into black and white I just loved how it shows connection and how amazing her hair looks. And although the colours of the setting sun are amazing, our connection is now the focus of this photo now it's been converted.

Post Processing: Applied Smal Wild09 and a couple of tweeks to exposure.

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