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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #235 – Shadows and Reflections in Monochrome

Mount Ranier in Reflections Lake

This week, Patti has selected a theme that focuses on monochrome photography. As a child of the 1960s, I was always enamored with color photography as it was newer and “modern”, but I’ve come to realize that I love the feel and drama of monochrome images. Patti includes reflections and shadows as options for the images featured. She writes, “This week, we’re challenging you to show us photos with reflections and/or shadows captured or processed in monochrome. Use your favorite post-processing software like Photoshop or Lightroom. Feel free to process your image in different shades of blue, green, brown, or gray. You can also shoot your image in a setting that’s predominantly one color–like a blue sea and sky, for example.” You can read her entire challenge post here.

My opening image features Mount Ranier as seen in Reflections Lake. There are two lakes almost side-by-side that sit right by the edge of the highway that runs through the park. There are lots of parking spaces nearby, but the attraction is strong and they are often fairly full, especially in peak season. Luckily both lakes are just a short walk from any of the spaces, so you don’t have to park twice to check out the best reflections from either lake.

The Choir of Man set

On a recent cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines, the featured show is about a group of men who frequent a British Public House (Pub). Before the show started, I captured a cell phone image of the set. I used my Samsung S-20U to capture the image, then used Lightroom and Silver Efex-3 to do the conversion.

Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Just a week ago, we docked in Saint Thomas on the Norwegian Escape. It was our third visit to this U.S. Virgin Island. Normally this blue hour shot would have been left in color, but I decided for this challenge to do a black-and-white conversion. It came out better than I expected.

Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.

The next morning, we docked at Tortola. It was our first trip to this island. We had a great tour of the island with a tour guide who was not only informative but entertaining. Talented guides are not always easy to find. The reflections of the lights on the boats in the water created some interesting light patterns in the pre-dawn morning.

A lone horseman on a Mexican beach.

I often break the “rule” of not shooting into the light, because of the silhouette effect from back-lit images. I’ve shared this image before, and it was almost black-and-white even before I processed it. I added just a touch of sepia from Silver Efex-2. This image was captured in Mazatlan, Mexico on our first trip to visit the city on the occasion of our son’s wedding in 2006.

Alaska’s Inner Passage.

Silver Efex-2 helped me create this monochrome view of Alaska’s inner passage on a dramatic day. Captured from the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship, the clouds were just starting to break leaving streams of sunlight to highlight the ocean.

San Diego’s harbor.

This silhouette in black-and-white misses the golden hues of the sky in the color version, but it more clearly defines the lighthouse on the shore. This black-and-white version is one of my all-time favorites. You can view all of the images in the gallery in HD on my Flickr site here.

I really enjoyed Patti’s challenge this week as it allowed me to share some brand new images captured in 2023 as well as some old favorites that I know I have shared in previous challenges over the years. Stay tuned for Amy’s challenge next week. If you’ve wondered about how to join in our challenges, click here.

John Steiner

43 comments

  8. I envy you that shot of Mt Rainier and Reflection Lake. When we were there the mountain was totally hidden by fog! But my favourite is the one of Alaska’s Inner Passage, with those shafts of light 😀

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  13. I really enjoyed your collection this week, John. Now I can see where you’ve been cruising! I especially love your last 3 images. Really gorgeous light, shadows, mood.

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  14. All beautiful and well-chosen for the challenge John. Happy to think of you sitting in my kitchen composing your response! Loved the opener especially, as well as the night shot in this set.

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    • Lynn and I really appreciate your hospitality, Tina. In the last couple of days, I have been working on the photos I took in Charleston and on Kiawah. I am looking forward to sharing them in March

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  16. What an amazing set, John. I also love shooting into the light. It opens such a range of effects. Alaska’s Inner Passage is an amazing shot. Beautiful rays.

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  18. John, these are stunning. I’m starting to wonder why we started using color so much! Tortola in the British Virgin Islands was my favorite until I kept scrolling. Then the Mexican horseman thrilled me, then the sun streaming through the foothills and it just kept coming. Brilliant work, my friend.

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  20. Beautiful selections John. Ya know…when I was looking for photos for the challenge I came across Reflection Lake at Mt. Rainier. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Yours is stunning! As colorful as that lake is, the B and W sure brought a difference perspective…still Reflection Lake. And I love the lone horseback in Mazatlan. I think the touch of sepia was nice. I agree, sometimes you have to take a chance and take that photo in the light. In no, you might miss a great opportunity, as you showed us.

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    • Thanks, Donna! I use the virtual copy in Lightroom to experiment and many times those black-and-white conversions get deleted. They didn’t look like I expected after they were finished. >grin<

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