1/100th, approx. f13. Palm Shadow. Black and White captures shadows and reflections well. As a flat medium, it steals depth from the images and causes the shadows and reflections to look like solid elements within a photo. In color, this shadow would have simply been a shadow -- very dark blue and mostly transparent against a cream-colored wall. In monochrome, the shadows becomes the image's central object, dominating the image like a ruler-wielding Catholic School nun. The palm is out of frame, but becomes the component which makes this image a photograph. Even a color-to-monochrome conversion would not have had this effect -- color film and digital sensors see light differently than monochrome film.
1/50th, f11. More Palm Shadows. In monochrome this walkway in Willie Mays Plaza become more. In monochrome, this path between palm rows becomes a jungle floor, dark and lit only by spots and stray beams.
1/50th, f6.3. Submerged stump. In color, this would have been a muddy, green mess. Monochrome presents an opportunity to explore an object for qualities not impeded by color registration. More tactile and visceral, monochrome converts texture and shape into grays and tones and provides a image qualities that become more naked and more deceptive.
1/50th, f16. Not just an art form, monochrome also presents a different type of honesty in reportage. In this image, the San Francisco police are doing something in China Basin. The stopped, threw something in the water a few times, then left. Probably just practicing life preserver throwing.
1/10th, f16. The Bay Bridge from my favorite vantage point.
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