Old Barns and Black and White Photography

14025_0214. Old Barn, Russellville, ArkansasCanon 5D Mk II, 73mm, 1/60 sec, f/22
14025_0214. Old Barn, Russellville, Arkansas

I have never been much of an enthusiast for shooting photographs in black and white, and my pictures are reflective of that mindset.  A look at the photographs on my website show they are essentially all shot in color.  The colors may be bold and bright or muted and subdued, but they still have color as a key component.  Oh sure, I have seen some absolutely stunning black and white images, and I have often been somewhat envious of photographers who worked so well in that style.  Black and white photography is truly an art form unto itself, but that just isn’t the way I see the world.

Although I shoot exclusively in color, there are some scenes that, to me, just look better in black and white because such photographs conjure up images of a simpler time.  The picture of the old barn above is one such scene.  I came across this barn this past weekend as I was on my way to another shooting location.  I shot the barn in color, of course, because that was how I saw it at the time.  It wasn’t until I got home and began processing the file in Lightroom that I saw the possibility of the image as a black and white photograph.  I used one of Lightroom’s black and white presets as a starting point and then used the various sliders to make further refinements.  The result is the type of nostalgic picture I see in my mind when I think of old barns.

Settings:  Canon 5D Mk II, 73mm, 1/60 sec, f/22

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