B & W, anyone??

I'm a HUGE fan of black and white photography. I worked in a studio back in the day, developing B&W film and prints, and I've never lost a love of that process. It has, obviously, changed dramatically for the digital age, but the process is very similar...just a lot faster now. What used to take 12 different prints and 2 weeks, now takes a couple of tweaks on a mouse and 2 minutes...


Storm Over Wheeler Crest


My daughter, about 5 or 6 years ago...one of my favorite shots


A candid shot of a street musician in San Francisco

I started my photographic hobby at about 10 or 11 years old by see-sawing a roll of B &W 620 (maybe it was 120) film in an enamel tray under a ruby light. Watching the image gradually appear was a magical experience.
That hooked me and I have always appreciated well made B & W prints. But I never relished the hours spent in a 10' x 10' room on a cement floor smelling like a fish and chip vendor.
I was never happy with my B & W's. I never had a teacher.

In my late teens I would get odd jobs and being so rich I spent my money on slide films (over 10,000 by now.) although I still took B & W for the weekly newspaper that employed me.
It has been mostly slides ever since until digital came along with, as BadDad so perfectly put it: "What used to take 12 different prints and 2 weeks, now takes a couple of tweaks on a mouse and 2 minutes..." and offers a versatility never even dreamed of in the age of film.
I only miss using those wonderful, friendly film cameras.

Mickey

I started my photographic hobby at about 10 or 11 years old  by see-sawing  a roll of B &W 620 (maybe it was 120) film in an enamel tray under a ruby light.
That hooked me and I have always appreciated well made B & W prints. But I never relished the hours spent in a 10' x 10' room on a cement floor smelling like a fish and chip vendor.
I was never happy with my B & W's. I never had a teacher.

In my late teens I  would get odd jobs and being so rich I spent my money on slide films although I still took B & W for the weekly newspaper that employed me.
It has been mostly slides ever since until  digital came along with, as BadDad so perfectly put it: "What used to take 12 different prints and 2 weeks, now takes a couple of tweaks on a mouse and 2 minutes..."     and offers a versatility never even dreamed of in the age of film.
I only miss using those wonderful, friendly film cameras.

Mickey

I still find myself occasionally missing the scent of Dektol, and the feel of sloshing a roll of film inside a cannister, wondering, waiting to see what will come of it. Digital has taken the guess work out of it, which, in turn, has removed a lot of the pre-photo process. I used to spend more time preparing for the shot as I did taking it. Now I can just take 7 diofferent exposures in the span of a couple seconds, and be fairly confident that one of them will be "The One", with almost no preparation.

What used to be 2 or 3 well-calculated exposure has become 6 or 8 snaps with 2-3 stops of exposure compensation in either direction, "Just to be sure".

The fun is still there, and the results are still there, but digital has removed some of the nuance from the game, in my humble opinion...

Chris, lovely shots.
I, too, really enjoy B&W pics, but for my SOTD photos of my brushes, nothing surpasses colour.

BadDad your first Pix is excellent. Very nice composition. I didn't even know this place had a photo subforum!