As we approached this tree I thought to myself that it might make a nice photo. I had to have the usual wrestling match with the lazy part of myself because all my gear was nicely tucked away in my backpack. Thankfully, my photographer self won the battle and I took out my monochrome camera.

The fog. It makes for such wonderful photographs but it comes rarely in the area where I live. So when it happens, I have no choice but to get dressed and drive to a ravine close to our house to take pictures. But I was tired. I didn’t want to get dressed and go out into the cold. I hadn’t even had my coffee yet!

It has been a fruitful wildflower season during the Spring of 2022, but I felt like I still hadn’t gotten “the” shot. The Lupin had already been in bloom for a couple of weeks, surely there wouldn’t be any left to photograph?

The sun was setting, the waves were crashing, and I didn’t have a tripod to capture the moment. On top of that, all I had with me was a black and white camera. Who shoots coastal sunsets in black and white? The answer: I do.

And the light. Oh, my, the light. There was a tall clump of trees off to the left and their shadow fell around the area except for a swath of sunlight that illuminated the tree and the rocks directly in front.

While contests like these don’t really mean much, I still thought it would be fun to enter them just to see what happened. I doubt I will enter any pay-to-play contests in 2022. Photography is such a subjective art that winning in one of these contests shouldn’t blow your ego up anymore than not winning should tear it down. Just go out and shoot and have fun.

I woke up Sunday morning to an email congratulating me on one of my photographs receiving an honorable mention. It was from the ND Awards, a photography contest that I had entered earlier in the year.

A brand new magazine for creatives called Lots has just issued its inaugural issue. I’m excited to be featured in their Street Photography section.

As the owner of a Leica Monochrom, you will know that there is no color information available with the .dng files from the camera. Since the color filter array has been removed from the sensor, there will be no way to manipulate the different “colors” of grayscale like when you convert a color photo by setting the Treatment to Black and White in Lightroom.

In all likelihood, your camera came with a “kit” lens. It’s called that because when bought together, the detachable lens and the camera body are called a “kit.” Kit lenses are usually medium zoom lenses with focal lengths between 18-55mm. This gives you a nice variety of focal lengths to use for your photography, from a wide-angle for landscapes to zoom in close for portraits.

While it is a good idea to spend time learning the ins and outs of your camera, you don’t need to take the time right now if all you want to do is go out and shoot. And let’s be honest, that’s likely anyone reading this right now. Who doesn’t like to use new toys as soon as they get them? There are some easy settings for your camera that you can use to get going right away.