Post Your Black and Whites Photos!!

[Blue439]

This fun snapshot has an “American” look and feel to it, although the mailbox couldn’t be more French... Mount Pilat area, 50 kilometers southwest of Lyon.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 35mm ƒ/1.8 S lens.

The village of Saint-Paulien (2,400 inhabitants) in central France boasts one extraordinary architectural treasure: its Romanesque church, whose single barrel-vault nave, erected around 1100, has a span of nearly 20 meters...! Not a single pillar in sight! I cannot believe how daring and expert the master architect who calculated this free-standing vault was (imagine that, with the tools of the time...), nor how skilled the masons who realized his vision, which still strikes you numb when you set foot in that church for the first time.

The choir and the apse are off-alignment, so obviously that it cannot be a mistake, especially from the sort of architect/mason “dream team” we see at work here. Since the church symbolizes the body of Christ on the cross, tradition has it that off-center choirs and apses symbolize how Christ’s head leaned to the side when He died.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor 19mm ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, FTZ adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head.

 

[Blue439]

The English Channel in Le Havre in Normandy.

Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor Z 24-120mm ƒ/4 S lens, handheld.

One of the best-known masterpieces of Mediæval sculpture: Eve in the Garden of Eden. Museum of Autun, Burgundy.

Nikon Z7 II, Micro-Nikkor 45mm ƒ/2.8 D tilt-shift/macro lens, FTZ II adapter, Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head.

 

[Robin W]

I don't do Black and White very often, but here I go....

Downy Woodpecker on my deck waiting for the hummingbirds to quit fighting over the feeder so he can take it over.

 

[Blue439]

Very cute, Robin, I like it!

The next photo could be called The macro lens in the big church. It was taken in October 2021, just a few days before the Nikkor 100-400mm telephoto was launched, which explains why it wasn’t yet part of my kit. I knew I needed a lens longer than the 85mm tilt-shift, because in churches there are many details that are way up there and you need serious reach to photograph them. On a previous trip, I had tested the Sigma 135mm , ƒ/1.8 Art, and before that I used to work with the Zeiss Apo-Sonnar 135mm ƒ/2, manual focus (that was stolen from me in a train in France). For the October 2021 photo trip to the French region of Saintonge, during which this photo was taken (this is the Saint Peter Romanesque church in the village of Aulnay), I had brought the Micro-Nikkor 105mm. Aside from being an amazing macro lens, I wanted to show it could be used as a medium telephoto for general photography, and it proved more than up to the task. Of course, it lacked reach, but having a 45-megapixel sensor means you can shoot in DX if needed and still have enough definition to work with in most use cases.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z MC 105mm, ƒ/2.8 S VR macro lens. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head.

 

[Blue439]

The architectural style that would later be called “Romanesque” (the word was not coined until the 19th century) was originally brought into France by Italian architects and masons from the region of Lake Como, where Romanesque was really invented in the 900s, then spread around in Italy, France and the rest of Europe. The style, which went through several periods, was characterized by, inter alia, round arches and barrel vaults, in homage to the Romans —even though the “pointy arch” that would later become a symbol of the Gothic style, was also invented during the Romanesque age, but never gained popularity, as it was deemed less perfect than the round barrel arch.

The Benedictine priory church of Anzy-le-Duc in Burgundy was built during the 1000s. Although it is not one of the first Romanesque churches built in France by the “Comasques” (those people from Lake Como), it still retains typical traits of what is called le premier art roman (“the First Romanesque Art”), the most obvious of them being the impressive octagonal bell tower adorned with bandes lombardes (“Lombard stripes”), those rows of blind barrel arches that “festoon” each level of the tower.

I will post below a photo from Italy for comparison.

Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head.

And now, below is the most iconic of those Romanesque bell towers, that of the Benedictine abbey church of Santa Maria Pomposa in northern Italy, built during the late 900s, one hundred years before the priory at Anzy-le-Duc. Notice the paired windows and the bandes lombardes...

Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head.

 

[Blue439]

This is typical Sardinia: very cute, very old (this one was built around 1050) little churches standing literally in the absolute middle of nowhere, with no settlement of any kind for the next 10 or 15 kilometers... Yet, you do recognize the bandes lombardes decoration around it, don’t you? Yes, just the same as the ones I described in the previous post... So, we know that, even in those far ago days, there were regular communications by boat between Sardinia and the mainland, and that architects and masons were called upon to make the crossing, come and build churches...

Nikon D850, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens. Gitzo tripod.

My old mentor Dom Angelico, osb, used to advocate black-and-white photography because it allows us to better concentrate on the subject matter we have in front of us, without being distracted by color information. And, looking at this capital from a late 12th century Romanesque church in the Saintonge region of France, I must admit there is merit to that opinion. Here, we see what seems to be a battle between dogs and eagles. Of course, many of those capitals were meant to educate, back in those days when almost no one could read, and even fewer people had ever seen a book, let alone owned it. Thus, they were highly symbolic, and most of that symbolism eludes us nowadays. Many thick tomes have been written on the subject; I own some and keep trying to educate myself. It remains very difficult, if not utterly impossible, to put oneself in the shoes of a man of the years 1100 and see the world as they saw it, in a very naive manner, surrounded by dangers and unexplainable things for which religion always came as the obvious answer.

Nikon Z7, Micro-Nikkor 85mm, ƒ/2.8 PC-E D tilt-shift lens, FTZ adapter.

 

[Blue439]

Landscapes in black-and-white? Yeah, well, I am still not sure... When you look at this one, it does look good and atmospheric, but I wish you would see the color version... Nature offered me such stunning colors that day! This version pales when compared to the other one.

Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, handheld.

I better see how efficient and gripping black-and-white is for “mystery shots” where a threatening atmosphere and a dark ambiance are created... This is in an old Romanesque abbey church in Auvergne (central France) that was used to shoot some scenes in The Purple Rivers feature film by director Mathieu Kassovitz in 2000. Producer Luc Besson was allowed to shoot for free in this listed building, and so he decided to subsidize the full restoration of the roof, which was a very gentlemanly gesture.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm, ƒ/4 S lens. Gitzo tripod, natural light.

 

[Blue439]

The majestic ruins of the fortified Romanesque church of Saint Hippolyte, in Burgundy. It was the church of a Benedictine priory. Can you spot the small decorative bandes lombardes, which we have encountered before? If yes, then you know you are beholding an example of the “First Romanesque Art” and that this church was therefore probably built around 1025–1050, even if the fortifications were not added until the 1350s and the advent of the Hundred Years War.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, FTZ adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head. Natural light.

Depicting Christ and the Apostles, this altar face is another masterpiece of the Romanesque sculpture, known by Mediævalists worldwide. It was sculpted during the 12th century for what is today the humble parish church of the village of Avenas, not far from the city of Lyons (southeastern France). Originally, the church was that of a monastery which was a dependency of the chapter of canons of the cathedral in Mâcon, which explains why the altar was so richly decorated: that sort of money had to come from somewhere...

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 50mm, ƒ/1.8 S lens. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head. Natural light.

 

[Blue439]

I like ruins... I find them atmospheric and romantic. Plus, you can always think up legends and stories about them as you stroll through... unless there already are horror stories about them, of course! That was the case here: it is said that one night during the Middle Ages, the sole cleric living in this isolated priory in Auvergne (central France) was murdered by an unknown assassin. A few even muttered some diabolic scheme must have been at work. No one wanted to live there after that, and the humble priory church slowly fell into ruin as the centuries rolled away...

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 14-30mm, ƒ/4 S lens, handheld, natural light.

Sand dunes are not a very familiar sight in Europe. The ones in the delta of River Ebro in Spain are famous.

 

[Peter7100]

 

[wev]

 

[Blue439]

The early Romanesque abbey church of Tournus in Burgundy was built from 960 and completed around Year 1000. A Benedictine abbey, Tournus was one of the most powerful of Mediæval Christendom and even minted its own money. Its church is enormous and spectacular, with a unique vaulting system that has ensured the stability of the structure for more than a millennium.

Nikon Z7, Sigma 135mm, ƒ/1.8 Art lens. Gitzo tripod, natural light.

 

[Blue439]

A very holy place for all the Benedictine monks worldwide: the crypt under the abbey church of Fleury-sur-Loire (central France), where the remains of Saint Benedict are kept.

Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head. Panorama made of of 5 exposures taken through shifting the lens horizontally from left to right.

The very famous portal and tympanum of the priory of Saint-Pierre-de-Carennac (southwestern France), built around 1150. When you see such artistic wonders from the past, you understand how daunting it is for a village of less than 450 inhabitants to fund the maintenance, cleaning and restoration works that are indispensable to the upkeep of such a masterpiece... Still, at law, it is the town or village that owns the churches on its territory, even though the parochial society benefits from usage rights; only cathedrals belong to the State.

Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head.

 

[Blue439]

Saint-Hilaire-de-la-Combe, a very old Romanesque church in southwestern France. Built around Year 1000, the village cemetery surrounded it, as was customary for many centuries. It was considered holy ground just like the church itself. For reasons linked to public hygiene and health, regulations in France moved cemeteries to the periphery of towns and villages, and so this one was decommissioned at some point, like most of them (but not all, curiously). I don’t know about the law in other countries, but I have seen many such cemeteries in the UK and even in New England (heck, there is even one in New York City!) that still seem to receive remains of those who passed away.

Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head.

Looking at a photo like this, I understand those who say black-and-white allows one to better appreciate architecture, without being disturbed by color information. This is the transept and the narrow southern aisle of the Saint-Trophime cathedral in the city of Arles (southern France). I am sorry for the blown-out portion where the light from the window strikes the opposite pillar, I wasn’t watchful enough and I overexposed that part beyond any recovery.

Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 19mm, ƒ/4 PC-E tilt-shift lens, FTZ II adapter. Gitzo tripod, Benro geared head.

 

[Blue439]

A black-and-white woody landscape near our house. Do you think, in a case like this where things are quite fuzzy all over, the black-and-white makes it easier to “read” the photo, or complicates things instead? I cannot decide.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 35mm, ƒ/1.8 S lens. Handheld.

 

[blackstar]

If you would post the color one, I could answer your question.

 

[Blue439]

If you would post the color one, I could answer your question.

Will do if I manage to find it again (it’s from 2019...), thanks !

 

[Blue439]

The most beautiful church in Sardinia.

This early Romanesque/Byzantine church is paleo-Christian and dedicated to Saint John the Baptist (its Italian name San Giovanni di Sinis). It was built around Year 550 in an area previously occupied by a Punic necropolis. It was subsequently enlarged during the 800s and 900s. Notice the enormous buttresses, quite unnecessary in their overwhelming strength, but which betray well the fear the builders of those days had that the building would collapse...

In my opinion, this is easily the most fascinating and moving of all churches in Sardinia, and one of the top five or ten in all of Italy.

In spite of its humbleness, it was elevated to basilica status by the Holy See.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 24-70mm, ƒ/4 S lens. Handheld.

... and this time, I know where the color photo is, and so I will post it below for you to say which one you think is the best/most interesting/etc. Many thanks in advance!

 

[Needa]

The most beautiful church in Sardinia.

This early Romanesque/Byzantine church is paleo-Christian and dedicated to Saint John the Baptist (its Italian name San Giovanni di Sinis). It was built around Year 550 in an area previously occupied by a Punic necropolis. It was subsequently enlarged during the 800s and 900s. Notice the enormous buttresses, quite unnecessary in their overwhelming strength, but which betray well the fear the builders of those days had that the building would collapse...

In my opinion, this is easily the most fascinating and moving of all churches in Sardinia, and one of the top five or ten in all of Italy.

In spite of its humbleness, it was elevated to basilica status by the Holy See.

Nikon Z7, Nikkor Z 24-70mm, ƒ/4 S lens. Handheld.

View attachment 409374


... and this time, I know where the color photo is, and so I will post it below for you to say which one you think is the best/most interesting/etc. Many thanks in advance!

View attachment 409375

Think for this particular photo color, both are nice though. For me the sky looks more menacing.

 

[Clovishound]

I frequently have images that I process as both color and B&W, and then have trouble deciding which I like better.

In this case I think I tip the hat to the B&W. It has a more classic look that is fitting for such a striking ancient building.

In my neck of the woods an ancient building is 18th century.