White cockatoo
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: #Black and #Metallic at Home and Beyond

Welcome to the Sunday Stills monthly color challenge! To acknowledge the Halloween season, I thought we could explore our various subjects that show black and/or metallic colors like bronze, silver, pewter, etc — any metallic is fine. Black and white images and monochrome are also encouraged but not required.

Walking Around in Nature

When I schedule my weekly themes, I am always on the lookout for scenes that work for the theme while on my daily walks. I must drive a few miles from my neighborhood to find Autumn foliage. I struck gold (or at least black metallic) at the park with the picnic tables and benches surrounded by Autumn’s colors. My eye immediately caught the contrast of the black metal with the colorful trees.

black park picnic table

I spied the silver metal of the gate at the edge of the park.

metallic gate autumn day

The above two images were taken with my brand-new Samsung S23 Ultra. The details in the distance are quite remarkable. A wonderful surprise!

Black-necked Stilt
Black-necked Stilt seen at the Preserve
Admiral Butterfly
Admiral Butterfly
White cockatoo
White cockatoo in a black metallic enclosure

In the House

Surprisingly, the color black plays a prominent role in my home decor. Last winter we finally finished the media center/dry bar in our family room.

Black, urban rustic decor
Black, urban rustic decor

Then there is the fun decorating I enjoy during the holidays, which coincidentally, officially begins with Halloween. There are some metallic items in these images.

Halloween Living Room Decor
Living Room Decor Halloween 2021
Halloween Decor living room
2023 Halloween Decor

I also added some fun seasonal decor to the dining room table.

Wood block Halloween decor

Metallics

A few more metallic examples from around the house.

Abstract angles from table and rug
Black metallic outdoor table
Stand mixer
Stainless Steel Kitchen Aid at work

Black and White Photography

I truly admire folks who can photograph successfully in black and white. This first one was taken by my brother-in-law of my hubby lighting a cigar.

“Life is in color, but black and white is more realistic.”
~ Samuel Fuller

man lighting cigar

I prefer color, but I can’t complain about a few of my own attempts.

Spooky Sunrise
Morning Mist Envelops the Forest
Cape Meares Cliff Trail
Cliff Trail featuring Octopus Tree on left
One tall Pine tree

Sometimes I edit images through various filters (I use the Painnt App) for some interesting effects.

“Black and white creates a strange dreamscape that color never can.”
~ Jack Antonoff

Forest bench in monochrome
Park bench in monochrome
black and white Painnted floral
black and white Painnted floral
crescent shadows from solar eclipse

Were you one of the lucky ones who saw the annular solar eclipse on Saturday morning? I love cosmic events and was disappointed to see a deep cloud cover that prevented anyone in our area from seeing the eclipse. The last total solar eclipse I saw was in August 2017, while we were spending a weekend at the Sacramento Delta. I caught the crescent sun shadows filtered through the trees on this windsurf sail.

Color Me Confounded

I would like to thank several of you who took the time to comment and send me e-mails regarding the issue with my Wordless Wednesday post last week. I was so happy to capture a bull moose with my lens and wanted to share the surprise with you all. Here is the post if you couldn’t view it.

The block editor moved the “saved” blocks I use each week, and when I searched for the subscribe block, I apparently chose an “upgrade subscription” block. If you are wondering, the saved blocks can be found under patterns, then My Patterns.

I also replaced the featured image with the same moose image in my post. I had used a moose from Pexels via WordPress for the featured image, but it kept disappearing. Another strange occurrence and I won’t bore you with the details. Frustrating as heck, and as you know, very few issues with WordPress are black and white these days.

Inspiring Photo Challenges This Week

Each week I find inspiration from my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I enjoy incorporating these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.

How To Participate in Sunday Stills Photo Challenge

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

This Week’s Featured Bloggers

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers, poets, and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared their photos of black and metallic colors. I add these all week as new links are posted.

“Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.”
~ Elliott Erwitt

I can’t wait to see how you interpret the various shades of black and metallic this week! Join me next week as we explore…PHOTOS FROM THE FUNNY PAGES (images that are humorous, happy mistakes, or other amusing shots). See an example of mine below:

Gideon sits and chats
Gideon (dog) thinks he can just sit on the sofa like a human and chat!
gray swatch

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136 comments

  3. I didn’t think about objects! Caught me out on this one, Terri 😄 I went monochrome instead of metallic.
    Love your Halloween decor and the glimpse around your home. I do quite like black and white photography, sometimes it adds drama.

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  5. Beautiful series, Terri! These black and white images are remarkable. I love the Park bench and the flower especially!
    Thanks for showing us your media center/dry bar, love it!! The fun seasonal decorations are pretty!

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  6. LOL for your comment about WP issues these days Terri – altho not really a laughing matter I’m afraid. Loved your post and your examples. Your media room is great! Also smiled at your holiday table decorations – not a bit surprised about that! A fun challenge this week – and thanks for joining ours!

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    • Thank you, Tina! WP is driving all of us crazy. One of my friends commented then I realized I’d not seen any recent posts. I had to resubscribe to her blog and catch up. We love our media room/dry bar. We spend most of our evening time in that room.

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  8. The black and white Painnted floral is just gorgeous! I love your fall decor. The pic of your hubby is grand, be sure to tell your BIL I said so. And yes, I love the way you captured the metallic with the foliage. The first one is my favorite. Thanks for linking up!

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  16. Wonderful selection of black and metallic, Terri! I wondered about the “subscription” on one other blog also. I used to comment on that blog, but the last couple of times it says I have to upgrade the subscription to comment. I don’t know if she realized that.

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      • I’ve learned a lot reading Hugh’s blog. Do you follow Hugh Robert’s? He writes a lot of how to’s for blogging.
        The reusable blocks are great for adding the same heading, image or paragraph to each post. I made a paragraph block for my copyright notice for the bottom of each post. I did the same thing for making several headings for Sunday Stills. The reusable blocks are shortcuts. It won’t happen to you if you don’t use a subscribe to block.

        Liked by 1 person

      • I thought I followed Hugh Robert but I haven’t received his posts in my notifications. I’ll find his blog and change the frequency of notifications. If you still have his post about reusable blocks, would you send me the link?

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  17. I was still wrapping my head around textures but ran out of time. I am away this week so probably won’t connect up. Glad you are happy with your new Samsung. I like the camera on mine. Bernie

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  20. Your Samsung photos are impressive! My daughter has a Samsung (not sure what model) and her photos are stunning. I think it has 7 different lenses and she can zoom in with such detail. It’s amazing. Your B&W flower photo is stunning, wow! I love your decorating – it’s fun to see that you’re just as creative with real life items as you are with your photography! Thanks for this fun challenge. I hope you have a great week!!

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    • Hi Shelley, thanks so much! Your daughter’s phone sounds like mine. I couldn’t believe the detail from so far away. Glad you like my seasonal decor. A few miles away are the stores I call the trouble trifecta (At Home, Michaels and Hobby Lobby)–all right next to each other. Then I see cute items at local craft fairs. I think I’m addicted, LOL!

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      • You’re welcome. My nephew got a phone like that too and he pointed out how detailed wrinkles look too…he took a photo of my hand that was so detailed it was kind of scary!
        Oh, dear, being so close to those stores would be hard to resist!! It’s amazing how quickly the items can win our hearts over. 😊😉

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  24. I usually use color too but am reminded periodically that B&W can be more effective in some photos, depending upon what you want to convey. I enjoy seeing the fall colors as we don’t have the same ones here and I really like the shot of your husband, even though I know you didn’t take it and I don’t care for cigars. 🙂 Hope your Sunday’s been grand and your week will be too.

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  25. Oh, so many wonderful images, Terri! I especially love the cockatoo! And isn’t it true that with camera in hand (or new phone!) we pay more attention to the world around us, especially with a particular theme in mind? I hope to find some photos to match the theme later this week, but we’ll see! 🙂

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  38. Terri,
    I’ve been dealing with COVID and not very active lately, so I’m so grateful you gave us a link to the moose or I would have missed it. My contribution is a B&W shot I took recently of the home of Pepsi-Cola in New Bern, NC. Nothing special, but something created in the early 1990’s seemed suited for B&W. Great work on all of your pics. Joe

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  41. Great variety here Terri 🙂 I loved the Black-necked Stilt with that perfect reflection and I enjoyed seeing your Halloween decorations (not something we really bother with here unless perhaps throwing a party) and the effects you achieve with that app – I especially liked the floral edit.

    I’m sticking with metallic and taking a slightly ‘sideways’ approach, as the metal isn’t always visible in my shots! https://www.toonsarah-travels.blog/gallery-the-skyscrapers-of-chicago/

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      • We go pretty mad with decorations at Christmas but not for other times of year. When I visited friends near Chicago they had lots of Fall decorations like pretty towels and tablecloths – not something we would do here, but I liked it!

        Liked by 1 person

  42. This is so cute, Terri. I love the last picture of Gideon! How adorable. Your new bird pictures are remarkable. The last one in the black cage is my favorite. Your misty one would work well as an illustration for Hugh’s story this month. I’ll link it to the summary post if you don’t mind. 🙂

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  44. What a great collection you have here Terri. Your new phone takes beautiful pictures. I like the different shades of color or black-and-white or monochrome … my favorite is next week’s Challenge photo for fun photos of Gideon and Hans. Very cute how they look and sit the same. 🙂

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    • Thank you, Linda! I’m impressed with the camera on the s23 ultra. I still have a lot to learn. Doesn’t next week’s theme sound fun? I think of some of your duck and bird expressions you’ve shared that are funny.

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      • And the phone is so handy to have when you want to take a photo on the fly. Yes, that theme sounds fun … I was hoping to do Walktober for next week if the winds have not taken down all the leaves as the following week is Halloween and I know I can scare up something scary as I’ve already written it. I will look in my duck and bird expressions … right now I have scheduled a seagull sitting on a bobbing buoy claiming it’s seasick for Wordless Wednesday 10/25.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Terri – I do have a funny animal post I can make for this Sunday. (Good thing as the leaves aren’t all that colorful yet for my “Walktober” post.) So, I found a groundhog burrow near the house and called a pest removal service in and we trapped two opposums, the last one was Thursday, so I told him we were taking the trap away as the groundhog was gone. The service humanely relocates the critters they catch in a wooded area five miles from my house … however, the whole groundhog story is amusing and I took pics along the way as I knew I’d make a post out of it. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  49. Wonderful photos as always, Teri. I love all the contrasts in here, and the textures! That’s my favorite part of black and white photography – the way light and dark create such amazing textures. Thanks for sharing your October!

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  52. I love your Halloween decor, Terri. We have some Halloween decorations up, but nowhere near as much as you do. I may add to my collection now.

    The media and dry bar area looks fantastic, too. Nothing scary about Hans, though. You captured him well.

    I always think monochrome gives photos an eerie feel. Although the objects in the photos look beautiful, monochrome gives them a slight edge into the dark side.

    The contrast between bright colours and metallics and metals is also excellent. I’d never have thought to have photographed picnic table legs.

    My entry is coming up later in my Wordless Wednesday post.

    An early ‘Happy Halloween’ to you.

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    • Thank you, Hugh! Black and metallic seemed like a good pair for the monthly color challenge. I’ve been pleased with what others have shared. We love making our interior spaces look custom but simple.

      As for my decor, I keep it harvest-themed, but the one table has the Halloween themed decor on display. When the kids were little we went all out, especially on our front porch. This year our neighbors, who have children, went all out with about 8 huge Halloween inflatables and other Halloween items on their property. Sadly we get no trick-or-treaters on our street. Happy Halloween to you!

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      • 🤣 I can just picture you screaming and running, Hugh!
        Our old neighborhood in Sacramento had a lot of kids out trick or treating, until 9-11 happened. From that point on until we moved, barely any kids came by. It was sad. Our rural street is dark and scary so no kids come by. But last night as I let Brodie out for his last romp, I spied 8 sets of eyes staring at me from the field next door– deer!

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