Sometimes the 52 Week Challenge provides a great opportunity to work on files from the archives. I didn't get a chance to edit many of the pics from our trip to Jasper last year, so with a wide open category like Black & White, I had a lot of fun playing in Photoshop. Here are some of the contenders.

Check out the B&W page to see the other ​photo I ended up posting for Week 8.

Another note to ponder... how does one edit, cull, choose which photo to post? Sadly, I am no good at self assessment. I often have to "call a friend". 

I made myself a promise to NOT do a 52 week challenge this year and of course that has already gone the way of the dodo. But I did give myself new rules. I will do a 52 week challenge, but it is old school, following a hard copy book, printing photos, under no pressure to post every week, with only Cliff and I participating and all photos in B&W, my theme of the year. So far so good. I am taking my time with the challenges, skipping weeks if the subject doesn't come together. You can follow the results on the 52 Week B&W page on this website. But I am also capturing all the information regarding camera, lens, lighting, photoshop filters etc. in the hardcopy book in my attempt to be more technically savvy.

These are from the Week 3 Challenge: Window Light. Using the window as a soft box, playing with different possibilities; beside the model, behind the model, directly lit. So what did I learn?

1. Doing self portraits are hard, you can't see the framing, capture the exact moment.
2. I love my camera. Even in the lowest light, I can bump the ISO and not have to use flash.
3. I can use my tripod when I have to.
4. Editing down to one photo to post is always part of the challenge.

The file size is so stunning, that one frame can be cut and cropped into multiple frames and still stay crisp and sharp is crazy. There are endless possibilities within each shot....how to limit the choices? Makes image capture so less critical. Allows me to be lazy.