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Barri Olson | profile | all galleries >> Archives 2004-2019 >> High Contrast Photography tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Compostite Abstraction | Misfits and Time Travel | flora | Industrial | TableTop Sunlight | Things | The VFW Car Show 2011 - Madison WI | VFW CAR SHOW 2012 ~ Madison, Wisconsin | VFW Car Show Madison, WI | The Dam | Structures | Merrimac Ferry | Planes | Cameras | Open Road | Film | Yardbirds In The Snow | Wisconsin State Capitol | Conversations over Coffee | November | MadTown | The Cherokee Marsh | Some Color Stuff | Impressions of an Art Fair 2007 | Technically Incoherent | 'In Camera' Black and White | Cell Phone Snaps | Earth and Sky | Retro ● | Black White and Grey | Black White and Grey 2 | Monotones | mOnOtOnes 2 | High Key | Variations On an Acoustic Guitar | New Experiments in High Contrast | Hot Cars in Cold Contrast | Scratchboards The Dark Side | Flowers Without Color | The Protests - Madison WI | Pieces | People I Know in Monochrome | Sanitarium Hill on a Grey Day | People in Contrast | High Contrast Photography | American Contrasts | Trees in Shades of Grey | High Contrast Closeups | My Old Neighborhood in Monochrome | miscellaneum | People One | Waterscapes | Sailboats - Maple Bluff Wisconsin | State Capitol of Wisconsin | Icefog | Summer | Tornado Warning March 30th | Sunday Stream of Consciousness | Atwood Summerfest 2007 | MONOCHROMATICA a Monochrome Gallery | Harbinger of Spring | autumnal equinox | The Square Gallery | The Incredible Lightness of Being after 15 Games of Dirty Clubs | Gunner's Gallery | A Small World of Dogs | Yardbirds in the Snow-2006 | Animals

High Contrast Photography

I like high contrast photography (I realize this is high contrast in the extreme as opposed to standard interpretations in a certain sense) since I feel it brings out the essence of the composition, much like a line or pen and ink drawing. I mostly (not always) use a digital camera that has white and black board settings for this, I think it's more fun to do in camera than messin' around in Photoshop, well sometimes. Thanks for visiting.

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No Left Turn
No Left Turn		 Bridge
Bridge		 Building 2a
Building 2a
Building 1a
Building 1a		 Condo
Condo		 Corner 12
Corner 12
StreetScene
StreetScene		 The Sunny Side
The Sunny Side		 Bridge 5a
Bridge 5a
Window and Door with Figure
Window and Door with Figure		 Scrap Copper
Scrap Copper		 DenimFlex
DenimFlex
Denim
Denim		 Darkschool
Darkschool		 FRP9180078.jpg
FRP9180078.jpg
Woman Walking to Car
Woman Walking to Car		 Fingernails
Fingernails		 Lines of a Fiddle
Lines of a Fiddle
flowers in b+w
flowers in b+w		 Snips in hand.jpg
Snips in hand.jpg		 The Old Machine.jpg
The Old Machine.jpg
My Plastic Life in a Lawn Chair.jpg
My Plastic Life in a Lawn Chair.jpg		 Chair 1.jpg
Chair 1.jpg		 chain and spring.jpg
chain and spring.jpg
Old Rechargable
Old Rechargable		 P8260041frhcbw.jpg
P8260041frhcbw.jpg		 Coffee Time
Coffee Time

comment
Guest 01-Apr-2011 14:49
these pics r stuning =)
Aaliyaa 31-Aug-2009 21:02
wow, these images are reallly good...i was wondering whether you could give me photographer names that use high contrast in human forms as close ups please x
Guest 29-Apr-2008 16:47
hey, just wanted to say some really nice work, ive been doing some painting in the same style, love it.
Guest 23-Jan-2008 10:37
Dear Barri,
i would like to let you know that I have chosen to study your art work for my art exam. I found your work very insperational. I would hope to see some more HC shots uploaded. I think your an amazing photographer, wishing you all the best in all you do.
anthony195720-Nov-2007 09:34
Your work in this style is inspirational!
Fabienne11-Jan-2007 22:20
it is a very beautiful gallery. the image processing reinforces the details and gives intensity to the photograph.
Guest 26-Jan-2006 14:56
This is awesome. Very inspirational for a project I am working on currently (Modern City Living). Love the treatment of these photos and some wonderful compositions. Voted.
lorin niculae25-Jan-2006 10:40
very creative gallery which aims to the core of our perceptive matrix. An enriching experience and a big VOTE from me.
Guest 05-Jan-2006 20:40
i am a BW crazy guy, I like your experimental highkey shots.love the way you controll the contrast,
Chun Lo04-Jan-2006 05:25
You have such good images in your galleries, interesting point of view, with great compositions.
Barri Olson16-Dec-2005 01:05
Thanks much "Guest" and Jeff...as you can probably tell from the number of HC shots I do, I enjoy this type of photography a lot.
Guest 15-Dec-2005 20:07
Very interesting work! Creative and inspiring...
Guest 11-Dec-2005 21:10
Great gallery. I like the Bridge photos best for their simplicity. A couple of my own high-contrast favorites...

http://www.pbase.com/jseltzer/image/53063412
http://www.pbase.com/jseltzer/image/53221207
Barri Olson30-Nov-2005 00:07
Thanks puppet, but be forewarned it can become addictive :-)
Best Regards
Barri
Guest 29-Nov-2005 01:24
High Contrast photography seems to work so well. Must try this sometime. Lovely gallery. Voted!
Barri Olson29-Jul-2005 09:40
Thanks much Eric
Now you've made me curious and I may do just that. Yep I've always liked really graphic, contrasty stuff.
Barri
Guest 28-Jul-2005 13:11
Really nice work! I think this gallery is great and different from anything else on Pbase.

You should pick up a copy of the play "ART" and read it. It will not take you 2 long, but this gallery reminded me of the show. Again, well done!
Barri Olson24-Jul-2005 23:14
Thanks Marie
Once in a while I get lucky...the lines of a fiddle are a case of that....could have so easily blown out those fine lines that define the shape, or could've got too many if the exposure would have been a fraction of a stop or so darker. So once in a while after trying a lot of things, luck does play a part. But not going to complain :-)))
Thanks again.
Barri
Marie-Hélène Raletz24-Jul-2005 00:28
Let me add "Lines of a Fiddle" to my growing list of favourites in this gallery!
Marie
Guest 22-Jul-2005 05:03
Do you mind my asking .. what are white and black board settings? I have overexposed in-camera for fun before, but it was haphazard. A more exact method would be better. Thanks.

Bridget.
Barri Olson16-Jul-2005 21:51
Thanks much Bridget...I really have a lot of fun doing these too...since I do them in camera (well most of them) and I can't really tell how they'll look just by the little LCD, it's almost like taking film to a 1 hour developer, I can't wait to get home and see. Sometimes they turn out a bit too stark and large grained...on a whole card, sometimes OK. So much depends on the angle of the light in relation to the texture. I've found a way to convert in many digital programs, but it's not quite the same as if you can manipulate the angle of the lighting on scene. Thanks again.
Barri
Guest 16-Jul-2005 20:29
I like your style. Very cool gallery.

Bridget.
Barri Olson15-Jul-2005 06:26
Thanks very much Marc
I always like hearing that people have returned. Made my day better.
Barri
Marc Demoulin15-Jul-2005 06:23
Barri, I've been back and I don't grow tired of this gallery.
Marc
Barri Olson14-Jul-2005 00:43
And thank you Marie and Maribel....This high contrast shooting sort of gets down to the essence of the dynamics of the composition. What I like too is that with the camera I have it requires on the spot decision...which makes it fun as opposed to sometimes tedium in photoshop.
Barri
Barri Olson14-Jul-2005 00:37
Thanks Mariyah and Steve. Going to get my little camera out and make some more pretty soon, really enjoy doing this high contrast.
Barri
Guest 12-Jul-2005 12:16
great work barri. i luv it!! voted!
Guest 12-Jul-2005 08:56
Wow! Stunning composition, and images that really stand out among other black and white images. Vote!
Marie-Hélène Raletz04-Jun-2005 08:31
I couldn't agree more with your words about high contrast photography:
"I feel it brings out the essence of the composition"... Yes, definitely!
It gives a highly artistic & graphic quality to images presented with this technique, when handled skilfully as in your gallery.
Hard to make a choice among so many different subjects, however "Condo" & "Chair" win my preference!
Marie
maribel balius05-May-2005 19:05
Hi Barri... I had the opportunitie of visiting this gallery and i would like to say that it is one of the most original works i have seen here. it is different and very very nice. Congratulations and thanks for visiting my gallery... I will be back soon :)
Barri Olson15-Mar-2005 02:32
Thanks Eric
I really enjoy doing this high contrast, I know Wendy O has a superb gallery of it up also. Thanks again.
Barri
Guest 13-Mar-2005 02:33
Awesome gallery Barri! I like it alot!
Barri Olson17-Jan-2005 06:58
Thanks Andrew
I don't know what cameras you use, but the older Olympus have a black/whiteboard setting which makes this possible...maybe other cams have this setting too. It's much easier than using photoshop to do. I find that I mostly, but not always, set my exposure comp. down, and move the camera around a LOT, to get what I like. I use my little old Oly almost entirely for B+W now. Thanks much for your comments.
Barri
Andrew Sandstrom17-Jan-2005 06:24
Really fantastic - unique viewpoint on composition. I like this and the American Contrast gallery a lot. Gives me some ideas to try out too
Barri Olson09-Dec-2004 01:02
Thanks Marc. I mostly use the white/blackboard settings in my camera and I started doing that to make me more aware of composition. I usually try not to crop (but once in a while can't resist,LOL) so as to force me to consider the elements in the photo. With these settings and highly defined shapes, sometimes it makes it easier to compose but I've got to move my camera around a lot and fool with exposure settings, so sometimes it's harder and I edit a great deal of pics out. Thanks again.
Barri
Marc Demoulin08-Dec-2004 18:57
Barry, great job really. Agree that high contrast enhance composition skill and gives special atmosphere...Vote. Kind RGDS. Marc
Barri Olson04-Dec-2004 04:15
Thank You for your comments evans, enjoy your galleries very much.
Barri
Guest 03-Dec-2004 10:35
some very interesting and evocative ideas in this gallery. unusual approach - thanks for sharing something a bit different. :)
Barri Olson03-Oct-2004 18:01
Thank You Matias. Yes the light has to be just right, for the contrasts even with high contrast settings. I erase many. Thanks for viewing my Gallery.
Guest 03-Oct-2004 15:05
Really interesting. It is quite hard to get this kind of pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Barri Olson28-Sep-2004 14:17
Thanks jypsee, thanks for viewing. Hope to do more in similar way soon.
jypsee28-Sep-2004 04:43
An interesting gallery; terrific technique...
Barri Olson25-Sep-2004 07:09
Thanks Bruce for the comments, and for the view. I sure like to hear what people think (especially when it's nice - LOL).Seriously I do like this high contrast stuff for the reasons you stated, can get to the essence of the composition more easily. Thanks again.
Barri Olson25-Sep-2004 07:03
Thank You much, I'm not the worlds best typist though, think I need a Mavis Beacon course. LOL. Thanks much for the comments and for viewing my gallery.
Guest 24-Sep-2004 16:01
(Apart from the missing 'p' in photography ;-) this is a bold, interesting gallery. Gets my vote.
Guest 24-Sep-2004 12:03
Very creative and VERY interesting. I very much like the graphic and abstract qualities of the images. Good stuff!

Regards,
Bruce
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