Please click on the above image to view it larger.

Recently a friend, Suzie Houseworth, nominated me on Facebook as part of her participation in something called The Black and White Challenge. As I don’t spend much time on Facebook these days, I had only a vague notion of what this was about. But going by her mention, you’re supposed to show a monochrome image every day for five days, then invite someone else to do the same.

I’m really pleased that she thought of me, thank you, Suzie!

The challenge seems intended to get people who otherwise shoot exclusively, or nearly so, in color, to explore the charms of monochrome images. For this I heartily support the idea! I am already converted to loving the B&W conversion. But to be a good sport, I thought I’d go back over the 2014 season and select five of my favorite B&W images to show here.

I love black and white images for how they allow the photographer to direct his or her viewer’s attention to a specific part of the image. There is often so much color for the viewer to process, especially in a vibrant world such as MotoGP, that the photographer’s intended subject, the reason for the photograph, can get lost. By removing the color information and reducing it to differences of brightness, the story in an image can be freed to express itself.

So, along with the featured shot above, here are four more from the 2014 MotoGP season that to my sensibilities are much more effective as black and white images than they are in color.

Now, whom should I nominate on Facebook…

Photographs: ©2014 by Scott Jones / PHOTO.GP – All Rights Reserved

Camera Info: Nikon D4 with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8