BLACK & WHITE: THE NEW COLORED III

In photography most situations call for quick decision making and at times risk taking; thinking and acting on your feet is important, also knowing exactly what you want as your final image and going for it, save's everyone lots of trouble and precious time. After the 'night' garden shoot everyone was visibly tired. So we all headed to the hotel lobby to gather our belongings and take our leave, and also allow the newly weds time to rest. The place (lobby) was a sight to behold; very colorful, with beautiful hanging artworks, comfy seats and all... I knew I wasn't going anywhere without capturing that! In moments the cameras were out again, ready to shoot away. Unlike the poorly lit gardens outside, the lobby was a stark contrast with too much light. For the second time, my 'test shots' were not impressive; my subjects were disappearing in all that warm bright light. I was working under borrowed time and could not afford to waste a second experimenting with the light settings. Consequently, I chose to finish what I had started with black and white... the gamble paid off. 

   

I wanted as much negative space between my subjects as possible hence I made the two love birds seat on either sides of the sofa's armrests' this also allowed me to include hanging artworks in the same frame. Congrats' Wangari & Charles!

    
 Camera - CANON EOS 7D

 Focal Length - 18mm
 Shutter Speed - 1/40 sec
 Aperture - f/3.5 

 ISO/Film - 1000
 Category - Wedding 
 Uploaded - June 25th 2013  
 Taken - June 1st 2013

 Location - Jacaranda Hotel, Nairobi
 Copyright - Stephen Mukhongi

BLACK & WHITE: THE NEW COLORED II

If you ask me, no two subjects should ever be perceived the same way in photography. In simple terms, all subjects are unique and while it is good to shoot in color some scenarios are best illustrated in black and white. After a whole day of covering the wedding, my colleagues (Martin, Laurence, Safi') and I, decided to give the bride and her groom an exclusive bonus shoot. The plan was simple; return to the photo-shoot venue before sunset. This was not to be, as we arrived at the place too late; we were literally chasing light but our main light-source (the sun) had just disappeared! the beautifully lit garden that we had earlier used for a midday shoot was no more, the area was shadowy and wasn't looking anything like a shoot location. It is such situations that make one appreciate light as the basic ingredient of photography. We however were not about to back down from this challenge. We turned a security light into our key-light and some lowly placed ambient lights into back-lights. As a ritual, I took a few 'test shots' to determine my settings but the color temperature of the light was a bit too artificial for my liking and as a result, I opted to use the monochrome (B/W) setting and shoot in black and white over the recommended post-processing, while retaining other settings. With the widest aperture, relatively low shutter speeds and highest possible ISO, I was able to get some decent black and white images. 

The bench made a great prop..

   Camera - CANON EOS 7D

    Focal Length - 21mm
    Shutter Speed - 1/40 sec
    Aperture - f/3.5 

    ISO/Film - 6400
    Category - Wedding 
    Uploaded - June 22nd 2013  
    Taken - June 1st 2013

    Location - Jacaranda Hotel, Nairobi
    Copyright - Stephen Mukhongi

..but so did the ground

    Camera - CANON EOS 7D    

    Focal Length - 20mm
    Shutter Speed - 1/40 sec
    Aperture - f/3.5 

    ISO/Film - 6400
    Category - Wedding 
    Uploaded - June 22nd 2013  
    Taken - June 1st 2013

    Location - Jacaranda Hotel, Nairobi
    Copyright - Stephen Mukhongi

Who said the bench is solely for sitting?

    Camera - CANON EOS 7D

    Focal Length - 18mm
    Shutter Speed - 1/40 sec
    Aperture - f/3.5 

    ISO/Film - 6400
    Category - Wedding 
    Uploaded - June 22nd 2013  
    Taken - June 1st 2013

    Location - Jacaranda Hotel, Nairobi
    Copyright - Stephen Mukhongi
 

Someone forgot I was shooting this.

     Camera - CANON EOS 7D
     Focal Length - 21mm
     Shutter Speed - 1/40 sec
     Aperture - f/3.5 

     ISO/Film - 5000
     Category - Wedding 
     Uploaded - June 22nd 2013  
     Taken - June 1st 2013

     Location -  Jacaranda Hotel, Nairobi
     Copyright - Stephen Mukhongi


                       

                                                                               (continued)

BLACK & WHITE: THE NEW COLORED

At the age of about ten, one of my hobbies was going through the family photo album; the thing fascinated me to say the least. On one occasion I remember coming across my mom’s portrait (a much younger version of her) the image was simply striking, and it was in black and white! I know we’ve all seen such monochromatic images, others we even can’t help but make fun of the ‘weird’ poses people made back then. Much of history and early human experiences have been recorded this way. In all these images color ceases to be the only main yardstick with which to judge a photo, other elements come to play; contrast, tone, texture, shape, form, even the shadows we so love to ‘kill’ make part of the story. Lou Jones rightly said it; black and white images force the viewer to concentrate on content, composition, or abstraction. One can achieve black and white images by using monochromatic films if SLRs are the camera choice. With DSLRs you can get B/W function in latest camera brands, the second option and which is recommended is to shoot your images in full color then post-process for black and white later using photo-editing software. To date, I still find black and white images remarkable just like I did when I was ten. My ultimate desire however, is to shoot a whole event in black and white! This wish came to pass... well, almost. In a wedding I covered, the bride and groom were daring enough to go with the idea of shooting some images in monochrome.    

After waiting for ‘ages’ we were finally allowed to go in and photograph the bridal party, who were having refreshments in readiness for the day.

            Camera - CANON EOS 7D
            Focal Length - 31mm
            Shutter Speed - 1/40 sec
            Aperture - f/4.6 

            ISO/Film - 2000
            Category - Wedding 
            Uploaded - June 20th 2013  
            Taken - June 1st 2013

            Location - Ruiru Town, Kenya
            Copyright - Stephen Mukhongi

Coffee was the number one choice for some

   Camera - CANON EOS 7D
   Focal Length - 72mm
   Shutter Speed - 1/60 sec
   Aperture - f/5.7 

   ISO/Film - 3200
   Category - Wedding 
   Uploaded - June 20th 2013  
   Taken - June 1st 2013

   Location - Ruiru Town, Kenya
   Copyright - Stephen Mukhongi
    

Not even my preying lens was going to stop a flower girl from downing her drink

The bride was not to be left out

            
            Camera - CANON EOS 7D
            Focal Length - 92mm
            Shutter Speed - 1/30 sec
            Aperture - f/5.7 

            ISO/Film - 3200
            Category - Wedding 
            Uploaded - June 20th 2013  
            Taken - June 1st 2013

            Location - Ruiru Town, Kenya
            Copyright - Stephen Mukhongi


 

       
      


      
      Camera - CANON EOS 7D
      Focal Length - 72mm
      Shutter Speed - 1/30 sec
      Aperture - f/5.7 

      ISO/Film - 3200
      Category - Wedding 
      Uploaded - June 20th 2013  
      Taken - June 1st 2013

      Location - Ruiru Town, Kenya
      Copyright - Stephen Mukhongi


 

 
 
 
                                                           (continued)