Black and White Wednesday - with not a smidgeon of color.

I just love white tulips (I planted hundreds the fall before we 'thought' we were going to China for Milana. I pictured coming home to a garden full of tulip blooms.

A few years later we arrived home in August (it's still a bit of a blur) but I have enjoyed my tulips each spring - they remind me of the gift of patience.

And how much we're rewarded for that patience.

However......white tulips do not convert well to black and white. They often become white blobs on a dark background. Not so interesting.

So, in Lightroom, where I do basic editing, color correction and tweeking, where I normall push the contrast lever right to the end - I did the opposite. So what happens is everything becomes muted BUT the shading comes out on the white tulip. But now it all looks dull with no contrast in the back. So I boost up the black and shading and some highlights all the way.

Then I took them into Photoshop, sharpened and then added a level layer. Very dark. Took a soft brush and painting on the shading so we can see the petals and details.

Voila.

I added some lighter levels to the leaves to make them pop a bit too.

Now the following is not a tulip....or even a flower....but, oh baby....was he cute!

This is Baby J who I had the pleasure of shooting a few weeks ago. What a cutie-bum.

Took some doing to get him to sleep, but so worth it.

I'll posting more of this cutie when I finally get my photography site up. I'm rounding the corner now. Should be in a few days.

And wait till you see those eyes in color. You could fall into those baby blues - they are so gorgeous.

(ok....so I cheated....the lens flare is colored.)

Make sure you visit Lisa's blog for some beautiful photography.

And Happy Wednesday!