Post 5 of 5 Day Black and White Challenge: South Rest Stop

South Rest Stop Under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

This is Day 5 of my 5 Day Black and White Challenge that I accepted from my friend, and fellow photographer, Rosemary Morrison, of Rosemary Kaye Photo, who's work I admire. I am supposed to post 1 b&w image for five days, as well as challenge a fellow photographer each day that inspires me.

I saved my last challenge, for my dear friend, Brenda Knolls Budd who's work I have always admired. Brenda has a unique way of seeing things. It has happened time and time again, when a group of us (photographers) go out shooting and Brenda finds stuff no one sees. I'd like to see what she can come up with. I hope she accepts this challenge.What about it, Brenda, will you accept?

Salt Marshes

I shot this from a moving car, while we were on the way to Beddeford Pool, where my son used to live. The clouds were so right, the blue sky reflecting on the ground and the perfectly placed rocks made this look at least to me like a beautiful painting. One day, I will paint this one.

It was just too beautiful not to share with all of you.

Safety Harbor Pier

Yes, this is yet another photo of the Safety Harbor Pier taken from the Safety Harbor Marina on our regular Monday Meetup. When I saw this image import from my media card, I couldn't believe my eyes.

I remembered making these photos, but thought they were lost on the card. However, the other night my roommate asked me to take a couple pictures for him, and I used my Canon 20-D, instead of my usual 40-D. Now I know where the photos went! It really stinks getting old. :)

Most of the time at the Monday night meetups I don't shoot any photos. But this particular evening, I just had to capture these amazing clouds and reflections on the still water. This is one of the compositions I made.

Settings used for this shot were ISO 200, 1/80 at F9.0 to get a decent depth of field. If I had bumped up my ISO to 400, I would've been able to use F11, but that would've meant I'd have to deal with some digital noise in my shot. I'd rather not have to deal with it if it can be avoided. The camera was set in Aperture Priority mode and I used partial metering on the sky to be sure it wouldn't wash out. I used my Canon 18-55mm IS lens at 18mm, also to get a good depth of field and a nice wide angle of this scene.