Square and black-and-white

Ferns, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Trees, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Maple, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I'm wondering whether going for black-and-white is appropriate today, as we have the longest day of the year, at 18 ours 59 minutes. But on the other hand, I don't quite feel convenient in color today.

Colin suggested trying out black-and-white version of one of my images. I'm no longer (except in very rare cases such as wrong color balance) doing post-processing for my images, so I didn't go back and tweak the image.

Instead, I thought of a new experiment: using the square format (1:1 aspect ratio) together with the "dynamic b&w" setting of the LX3. And I must admit that there are interesting possibilities here to explore. I have found both b&w and the square difficult to understand, so why not to combine the two difficult things?

Coming back to the LX3, Tsarli suggested that 'instead of getting another LX3, why not save it (i.e., baby it) and get a "beater" camera'.

Getting a different camera doesn't tempt, although I admit having some curiousity towards the Samsung TL500/EX1. Getting it would mean learning new ways of operating the camera, and that would take a couple of months. I very much prefer taking photographs with a well-known tool. But I guess there is no hurry to make a decision about getting another LX3 as it seems to be very much in demand still.

But I'm getting some competition, as the youngest daughter wants to use the LX3 as well, shooting a hundred images in one go. Have to watch her.