Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.
Leonardo da Vinci
I think we humans must always have considered flight as something magical. After all, we can travel easily over the ground but without some supporting device are unable to leave it. Consider how many mythical creatures have the power of flight, from fairies to winged horses to dragons.
Terri’s Sunday Stills theme this week has prompted me to search my archives for photos that capture some of the magic of flight. And as you’ve probably seen some at least before, and as this week’s Monochrome Madness is theme-free, I’ve chosen to convert them to black and white.
All of these photos were edited with Nik Silver Efex Pro apart from the feature shot of skimmers on the beach in Cape May, New Jersey. For that one I used a vintage effects filter in Nik Color Efex Pro. It has kept a touch of red in their legs which I rather liked.
Birds in flight
But I’ll start with creatures who unlike us are able to fly unaided. I love photographing birds but while it’s quite a challenge to get a good shot of one sitting on a tree or elsewhere, capturing them in flight is harder still. However I have managed it on occasion, so I’ll start with a selection of them.
Click on any photo to open a slideshow of all, with captions explaining where each was taken
Flying machines
And now on to manmade flight. I have almost no photos of planes etc. in flight but I found a few. I confess I cheated a little with the helicopter. It was in flight when I photographed it but only just, hovering a few metres above the ground. I used Photoshop to change the background to all sky to make it look higher! Meanwhile the photo pf the plane, with a completely unedited sky, was taken from our back garden especially for this challenge!
The remaining photos here were taken while I was in flight. The ‘magic’ of being able to fly has never left me and although these days I find long haul flights tiring I am still always thrilled to be able to look out and down at the earth beneath. Unlike ‘birds in flight’ and ‘flying machines’ I have a very large number of such shots, so I’ve had to be very disciplined and selective!
Looking back over these after editing I realised that in most cases I prefer the colour version. Maybe that’s why it’s called Monochrome Madness!
10 Comments
Monkey's Tale
The portrait hummingbird picture is gorgeous, it looks like a painting. Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Maggie 🙂 That’s one that I’d already had to do quite a bit of editing to in the colour version as it wasn’t a great shot (rather a dark corner, so flat and ‘noisy’). I was pleased with how it came out in the end and you’re right, it does look a bit more like a painting than a photo, in colour AND in black and white!
Terri Webster Schrandt
My goodness, Sarah, stunning views of birds in flight. The monochrome works well for these. I love the shot of inside of the balloon, truly inspired. I appreciate your link and your kind words.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Terri 🙂 I love ballooning so it was natural to capture the balloon as well as the views!
Anne Sandler
Great black and whites Sarah. Your feature photo is amazing and artsy.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Anne 😊 Those vintage filters can be very effective on the right shot!
bushboy
The photos a fabulous Sarah. The monochrome makes them special so not having seen the colour images there’s no comparison as the conversions worked so well.
Maybe a bit more tweaking would have made you feel a lot better about the photos.
What do you think doesn’t suit converting to B&W?
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Brian 🙂 Believe me I tweak a lot! I wasn’t exactly unhappy with these but I do think losing the colour on some of the birds and the landscapes is a shame although others do work well I guess.
Heyjude
The feature shot is stunning and I love the humming birds, well done on capturing those!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Jude 😊 Hummingbirds test my patience but are worth it when the shot comes off!