monochrome monday

Let the rain kiss you. 

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. 

Let the rain sing you a lullaby. 

~ Langston Hughes

Fuji XT1 ISO 250 1/100 f/4.5 XF18-155mm (67mm EFL)

monochrome monday

We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves, otherwise we harden. 

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Introducing monochrome monday!

I've been processing many of my color images into black and white.

I think some images are stronger in monochrome,

as you can focus on the subject and not be distracted

by all the color...not that color is in any way bad.

Sometimes, you just want to create a no frills image.

Do you know what the above image is?

You might recognize this more easily.

I captured the above image in camera, rotated it, and processed it into black and white.

I like to rotate images like this.

It makes one think a bit about what they are really seeing.

Go out and tweak reality.

It's easy enough to revert to normal if you really want to!

Fuji XT1 ISO 400 f/6.4 1/100 sec XF18-55mm (48mm EFL)

destiny

As long as we are persistent in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, 

we will continue to grow. 

We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. 

It happens in its own time. 

~ Denis Waitley

I had a vision when I saw this tulip.

I wanted to isolate the bloom and the leaf on the left from the

remainder of the image. I didn't have a macro lens with me and figured

I would have to do some creative cropping.

In post, I played around with NIK Silver Efex Pro2 (now available for free).

I was able to process this color image to the tight image of just the leaf and flower

that I originally envisioned.

I think the preset underexposes the image a great deal so only the very light areas show.

By altering some of the color filters (blue) I was able to isolate the bloom and leaf

even more. Strong vignetting may also be a part of the preset in order to bring attention

to the center of the image.

I did not expect that a preset for black and white processing

could so radically change this image.

I can still be surprised!

Love that.

This plug-in collection is powerful and empowering.

You don't have to settle for just clicking on a preset,

and letting the software determine your image's destiny.

You can further adjust your image globally, or selectively.

You can tease apart what elements changed the image the most (exposure, vignette, filter),

and apply these concepts manually to your images in photoshop or lightroom.

Play.

Make it your own.

Make it your vision.

Give your image the destiny it deserves.

Fuji XT1 ISO 200 f/5.6 1/500 sec XF18-55mm (69mm EFL)

refreshed

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter,

and sharing of pleasures. 

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

~Kahlil Gibran  

f/3.5 1/250 ISO 250 100mm macro

f/8 1/40 ISO 200 100mm macro

f/13 1/80 ISO 250 100mm macro

  

f/2.8 1/400 ISO 160 100mm macro

f/11 1/125 ISO 250 100mm macro

observing

In the hope of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.

~ Albert Schweitzer  

f/6.3   1/60   ISO250   100mm macro

almost spring

The flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days. 

~Robert Leighton  

f/4.0   1/200   ISO 100

welcome

Welcome to Whimsical Pixel!

We're so delighted you stopped by!

Please find us here while we're building our Whimsical Pixel photoblog.

Thank you!