Will I ever tire of light & shadow? I suspect not. At least not as long as photography is my artistic medium of choice. I recall the years I worked as a painter. Then everything was color. I couldn't have cared less about value--what visual artists call light & shadow--and that proved to be a weakness in my work. It wasn't until I went back to school in my mid-30s, this time in fine arts instead of social work, that I began to see the importance of lights and darks even when working in color. Later I focused on pen and ink drawings and value became my best frend.

So now I've traveled much the same road with photography. Color was everything to me when I started out. I remember the very first photos I took with my brand new Canon Rebel XT were of flowers, brilliantly-hued flowers. It took me over fourteen months to develop my eye so I could see light as the single most important element in any photo. And now that's almost all I see. So when I was scooting down the street last week and passed this woman sitting at a table outside the gelato store, it was the pattern of light and shadow on her crossed leg that caught my eye. When I asked if I could take her photograph, she kindly agreed.

And now I'm going through my galleries trying to find what I consider the best photos to submit to the prestigious Black and White Spider Awards competition. It is SO hard to see your own work with an objective eye, especially since each image carries memories that others wouldn't know anything about. I'm afraid my attachment to certain images might have more to do with the stories they remind me of than their intrinsic value as examples of good black & white photos. So I'm going to put up a gallery with my possible choices. As soon as I do so, I'll post the link here. I sure could use some feedback from my PBase friends!