Movement in Black and White

This post is about the selection process for my submission to Leanne Cole Monochrome Madness weekly journey into the world of Black and White Photography. This coming week, there’s a theme: motion or movement. The theme post will go live this coming Thursday (Wednesday, in North America).

There is no SmugMug gallery for these since all of these already appear in existing galleries. You can, however, click on the photos to get a larger version or click on the various galleries therein to view them interactively. 

Right; here we go.  

One of the easiest ways to imply motion is to show something that is in motion. Over the years, I’ve gotten somewhat comfortable with shooting birds in flight. I mean, photograph birds in flight.

The two birds I’ve photographed most are Hummingbirds . . . 

. . . and Hawks . . . 

Incidentally, both of those shots were used as previous Monochrome Madness submissions. 

I have hundreds of other photos of both hummingbirds and hawks . . . 

Here’s the thing with hummingbirds: they be like jewels. Sure, one can make jewels look good in B&W, but these be sparkling multicolored jewels and I think they are best seen in color.

That leaves hawks as an option (click on any photo to enter gallery) . . . 

. . . I also could use a falcon . . .  

. . . or Canada Geese . . . 

. . . or one of my many Tree Swallows shots. This next one was a submission to a contest and was challenged by some who believed it to be a composite or edited image (I got quite irate and it turned me off from entering contests). 

Heck, for that matter, I could use one of my photos of flying insects . . . 

By the way, submitting to Monochrome Madness is free, and it is NOT a contest. It’s just a bunch of people sharing their love and appreciation for B&W photography. 

As far as other submissions go, I expect to see many examples of birds, and while I think a number of them will be very interesting and great photographs, it’s something that I have a lot of, just like I have a lot of “slow water” shots, another option when it comes to showing motion . . . 

Yes, I know that’s not in B&W . . . but since I’m not submitting it, it’s OK. 

I’m expecting more than a few submissions to tackle the idea of motion in inventive and fun ways (which I will learn from). Me? I’m just trying to not embarrass myself with a mundane submission that will elicit all-around yawns. 

To that end, I came up with three subjects that are not all that common, at least as far as my blog goes. 

First up, a galloping horse . . . 

Of those two, I like the first one best. The second one makes the horse look like it’s a Springbok. 

Second, a chocolate lab chasing stuff its owner was tossing in a lake (click on any photo to open the gallery) . . . 

Taking into consideration details and composition, I’ve narrowed it down to two shots . . . 

Last, but not least, a White-lined Sphinx Hummingbird Moth (Hyles lineata). Again, click on any photo to enter the gallery . . . 

Of those shots, these two are the ones I’m considering. 

Wait . . . I know what I said about birds, but I think I need to include the shot of the flock of Canada Geese in the Semifinals, so here are the choices in their own gallery:

I need to submit this by Monday evening at the latest (giving Leanne enough time to compose her post for Wednesday), so I’m opening up a poll for readers who would care to vote. 

Not only that, I will go with the photo that gets the most votes by 8:00 pm tomorrow night — Monday — Hawaiʻi time, 2:00am Easter Time Zone. In the event of a tie, I will pick one at random. 

Once again, Monochrome Madness is NOT a contest and if you are a photographer (by trade or hobby or any skill level) I encourage you to participate. 

Here is a gallery of all the photos in this post presented in a random order.

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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