Playing with black and white

This is the time of year I call "retreat from the river." The weather turns cold and wet, and the sandy river banks turn to slippery mud. I just don't get down to the river as much this time of year as I don in spring and summer. That describes the weather here in the Huntington WV area this week, so I dug into my summer archives and found a few pictures to play with. I converted them all from color to black-and-white, and then, in some cases, played with the controls to make a semi-artsy image.

First, the mv. AEP Mariner as it came downriver toward Huntington this summer.

Next. the mv. Speedway of Marathon Petroleum. As I worked on this image -- it took some time, as I did a lot of stuff that left me far less than satisifed -- I came up with this one, which I like much better than the original color image.

This is the U.S. Grant Bridge at Portsmouth OH, seen from a boat ramp a little ways upstream. I like how the ridge behind the bridge is at about the same level as the bridge roadway. The next time I try this shot, I'll see if I can get them lined up better.

And here's one of the Huntington East End bridge. I've done several images in black and white with pleasing results, but this one leaves me cold. It just didn't work. Oh well.