Improvisations without Color

August 18

I'm doing some experimentation with photography. The pictures here were made B&W in Photoshop and edited for light / dark balance.

I drove up to The City on Saturday to walk around and find some interesting material to use. For those who don't live here, "The City" is San Francisco and Driving Up means going north. Yes – I'm localizing to the environment.

There aren't too many stories in this entry. It's mostly photos that I wanted to share.

I was walking around with my backpack and a camera hanging by a strap from my neck and looking the tourist. A homeless guy selling the "Street Sheet" stopped me and started talking, telling me that my success only depends on what's between my ears (he acted this up pointing at his to make the point). I'm not sure what prompted this. Whether he thought I was an art student trying to find pictures to take, or maybe he made some other connection. All I could think about was his job and wonder how he got there.

Walking up Geary street I found this hole-in-the-wall shoe shiner's stall. The guy let me take a picture of it and I kicked myself later for not taking his. If the spray bottles in the front weren't in the picture, would you be able to tell which year this pictures was from?

The Sun reflected off the sidewalk making it shining-white while everything stayed dark. I really liked the effect. Don't they look like they're walking on air?

The Miles hotel is making it into my collection of interesting hotel fronts, along with the Green Tortoise Hostel from Seattle. Yes, it's a collection of 2.

This bouquet was full of yellow, red, blue, violet and pink flowers. I was interested in what I could do with it in B&W. Doing it digitally at home gives you so many more options then selecting the right filter when you shoot B&W film. Especially if, like me, you have no instincts for B&W.

If this was an old style car the scene would be perfect. As it is, it's still an interesting one. What you don't see is the driver using his Bluetooth earpiece to talk on the phone.

This following picture requires no comments.

And now for a burst of color to bring you all back to the future.

Some more pics, including some in the original color, at:

San Francisco B&W Cruise

Aug 19, 2006 - 13 Photos

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