Yesterday I flipped through old pictures. I was looking for pictures that could be look great in black and white, perhaps even more interesting than in color.

I was looking for true white in a picture and true black. This is one of the secrets, I think. If there is no black and no white in a picture one gets a picture with different shapes of grey. I looked also for empty space. Blurriness looks great in black and white pictures.

Each of these pictures above has a clear subject matter. The pictures are all taken during trips. The first one was taken in the US, the second one in France, the third one in Italy and the forth one in the US again.

Diving into the past is fun, but whenever I do this I feel the urge to create new pictures rather soon.

Another good question is what composition has the picture. Is there a frame within the picture? How much space takes the main subject matter? Can one realize the 1/3 rule?

Ideas for new pictures arise as soon as one is working on pictures. Ideas fade away when doing nothing. It always requires a certain amount of courage to create. The risk is low, but there. Not every picture is an eye catcher. Many, many pictures are average, yet it’s good advice to keep working. To educate the eye and to develop taste takes time and exercise.