I really need to revamp my Black & White Gallery at ashleycorr.com as it has been rather neglected over the last year or so. I used to set aside some time for mono conversions, but that appears to be a thing of the past for no particular reason, other than my photography interests lying elsewhere. Sometimes it's wise to have a break from specific areas of photography, then when you revisit it brings out that creativity again, which reflects in the results, and here I have one or two examples of what I am getting at. The first shot was taken outside York Minster on April 23rd, 2012. The weather wasn't anything special that day - the sky was overcast and there was little or no sunshine to be had, but that didn't deter this photographer, as I planned to convert any decent shots into Mono (black & white). I spent 90 minutes inside the Minster, grabbing a batch of photo's to complete my York Minster Gallery, which, for the record, are all colour images. Upon leaving the Minster, via the Gift Shop, I crossed the road towards the shops and stopped to take a photo which is shown here (image one). The reflection in a shop window caught my eye immediately and out came the camera once again. I used a 10-22mm wide angle lens to cram as much content as I could into the frame, plus the use of a CPL filter on the window next to me, which made the lettering more prominent, when rotated to suit. I later edited the image in Photoshop CS6, which is the latest 'All singing, all dancing' software from the Adobe stable (a class bit o' kit!). I altered the levels and grey tones to suit, before converting the image to HDR (High Dynamic Range), which always works a treat with ancient stonework, and I think I pushed this one to its limit and brought out the best in what was a fairly 'Flat' image to begin with. 
My second Mono shot, shown here, is another one that got the HDR treatment. Taken at a location that I have visited so many times - it's Penshaw Monument, on the outskirts of Sunderland, Tyne & Wear. I remember this visit very well - a freezing cold February morning, and there I was attempting my first ever Sunrise shots from the top of Penshaw Hill. Another one to forget though, as the sun only showed for a matter of seconds before departing behind a bank of low cloud on the horizon. I made my way back down Penshaw Hill after this non-event and stopped half way to photograph from the steps, which were well frosty, almost having me flat on my arse a couple of times. The 10-22 wide was paying for itself once again as it put itself to good use, with the pathway and steps offering the perfect 'Lead-In Line' to the shot, with Penshaw Monument once again providing the focal point for another Black & White effort. HDR came into play again, with two bracketed images instead of the single RAW file I used on the Minster shot above, tone mapped and aligned to create what is shown here. I've got this one printed on Ilford Galerie Satin Paper (280 g/sm) and mounted in textured white board, then framed in black - I have to say...it's a winner! And just before I pop off for a bite to eat folks, I'd like to tell you I'll be back shortly with some more creative photo's that I recorded last night, with the help of some string, an egg whisk and a roll of wire wool. Strange, eh. You'll be surprised at the results though. Not long to wait...
Ash
www.ashleycorr.com
