Day 127: Backyard Photo Variations

Well, I wake up at 4:30am to birds chirping outside. It's too early to get up. I want eight hours. But, I get up for a half an hour and then lay back down. I get into some weird dreams and reawaken at 7:30. Now I have slept in. I don't like that, but what is one to do? It's a late start to the day. It's also been really hot & humid here recently. It was 75 degrees when I got up.

So I get some coffee and head out to the backyard to do some guitar practice. I'm working on a couple of new pieces and the light on the fence and the red chair keep drawing my attention way from the music. So, I photograph it. The first photo is the way it looked. Then, I was curious how it would look in black & white. So, while playing around with it I liked how the middle version looked. Not b&W, not full color. Then the bottom photo is just b&w. However, that version is less than ideal. It needs to be done differently for my eye. I have little practice converting color to b&w with Photoshop. There is a lot more to it than simply converting to grey scale or desaturating the file. This is an area that I need to explore and work on. I have always relied on b&w film, Tri-X to be specific, for my b&w work. But, in this digital age, one must be prepared to expand one's horizons. Bear in mind, the great pianist / composer Rachmaninoff said, "In art, the horizon is always receeding.