Black and White

You should be proud of me. When I read the new challenge I wanted to grab my camera and my baby and start clicking away because I think there is nothing more beautiful in black and white then a small, smooth, chubby face. However, since I have used my children for the last two challenges I decided to venture out and try something new. Thus, the fence. I fell in love with it's rich texture. I took the picture in manual (50mm, f/8, 1/50, ISO 100). I converted it to B&W in raw editing and played with the contrast, clarity and black sliders to give it the umph I wanted.

Now, because I simply jumped right in to the challenges a week ago and never properly introduced myself I'll post a self-portrait and give some quick info.

I'm 25, married to a great man and am a stay-at-home mom to my two little girls (Emma is 3 and Ali is 18 months). I do portraits on the side. I first became interested in photography about a year ago and began studying everything I could get my hands on that had to do with photography. We saved and bought a Nikon D60 and a few lenses for Christmas. Now I'm hooked. Besides photography I love biking (road and mountain), experimenting in the kitchen, a good book, zumba classes, hiking and camping with the fam. and blogging. I'm excited to be a part of this group and get to know ya all through your marvelous pictures.