black and white

Old Toronto Station in Black & White

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The Toronto railway station opened in 1891 and was in regular use until it closed in 1990. While most of the line has been abandoned, the station itself is in good condition and is now used by the Lake Macquarie and District Historical Society.

I took some photos at the station a little while ago and I’m pleased with how they came out. They lent themselves to black and white very well.

Photos © CJ Levinson 2021

Newcastle Ocean Baths in Black & White

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The Newcastle Ocean Baths is my favourite spot to shoot in Newcastle. There’s just something about the light and all the interesting areas to shoot and the rich textures that really inspires me when I’m there. I think it’s almost impossible to get a bad shot there.

I did a photo challenge at the Baths with my Newcastle photography group last weekend. The idea was to try to shoot in a way that you normally wouldn’t so I used a filter on my camera to shoot entirely in black & white. At the time I thought it was going to be quite limiting but it was actually fantastic. There’s something about seeing your composition in b&w at the time rather than converting it later that feels really liberating and I almost felt like I was seeing the place with new eyes.

I’ll have to do the challenge again from time to time just to change things up. Maybe try shooting with a different lens too. I hope you like the photos.

Photos © CJ Levinson 2019

Self-Portraits (Part Two)

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I took these last night for a bit of fun. I like to do some festive self-portraits in the lead up to Christmas and after I had a lot of fun doing my some studio-style self-portraits a few week ago, I thought I’d do these in the same style too. I like how they came out and I did some more normal, non-Christmas themed portraits too. Hope you like them.

Photos © CJ Levinson 2018

Central Street Revisited

Central Street Revisited
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Central Street Revisited

Just a day, just an ordinary day
Just trying to get by
Just a boy, just an ordinary boy
But he was looking to the sky
~ Ordinary Day, Vanessa Carlton

I took this photo about a year ago during a day trip to Sydney. It’s of one of my favourite spots for street photography in the Sydney CBD, Central Street, a little avenue opposite the Event cinemas on George Street.

I’ve taken several photos there over the years, including this one which is one of my favourites. It’s a great little spot to go back to as the scene is always changing and there’s always something new and interesting to photograph.

I was quite happy with how this one turned out. It’s very simple but captures a slice of ordinary life that I find really interesting and I like the tones and textures as well.

The area looked very different the last time I was down as well with all the construction going on at the moment. I’ll have to get a couple of photos of that too.

Photo © CJ Levinson 2017

Sunday Afternoon on the Lake

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Another weekend
Comes and goes
With the setting sun –
Time marches on

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It was quite cool and a little overcast yesterday, the perfect kind of weather for black and white photography, so I went for a walk with my camera down by the lake to see what I could find.

The water was lovely and still and I was quite happy with how these two shots came out. I like how they look in monochrome and I particularly wanted to capture the relaxed feeling out on the lake and I think that comes across well. I can imagine far worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon! 😀

Photo and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2017