It seems to me that color is more suited to nature photography than B+W,
especially with closer more intimate subjects found in nature. The iconic
B+W shots of grand landscapes are sometimes more suited to B+W simply
because of the simple subject, composition and lighting of those images.
I've also attended numerous outdoor workshops and cannot remember any B+W
images in show & tell/critique sessions.
Kenneth Waller
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/kennethwaller
----- Original Message -----
Subject: Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white
I think color easily detracts from an image. Many of my own personal
favorites are monochromatic.
A few years ago I took several Nature Photography Workshops. As is typical
in such workshops, participants were invited to bring along a few of their
own favorites for show and tell and critique. The 2nd or 3rd time I
included a shot of a waterfall we visited at least once during every
workshop. Rendered in B&W. Which got quite a bit of (mostly negative)
comment. Then I showed the color version and explained that I felt the
bright green moss in the center foreground transformed my waterfall
composition into an image of bright green moss. Not sure I made many
converts but for me I still think the bright color was a distraction from
the scene I wanted to portray.
But sometimes color is the subject. E.g., faded paint on old buildings.
Even there, for me, a narrow palette of colors, if not monochromatic,
works best.
stan
On Mar 16, 2018, at 6:31 PM, ann sanfedele <[email protected]> wrote:
when I was shooting film, I shot interesting subjects in both BW and
chrome when I could.Then I could decided later.. and also had backup if
one or the other rolls of film met a premature demise.
I like bw for documetary work & street shots and when the color is
irrelevant and/or just gets in the way.I think color is much harder than
black and white although it often
appears to be easier...Never thought about bw being necessarily dreamy or
romantic, I usually like my bw more contrasty and color much less so...
bottom line - unless the color is pleasing to me and enhances what I've
shot, I prefer black and white. Of course my nature photography is almost
all in color as it
informs... the colors are as much the subject as the objects
photographed.
ann
On 3/16/2018 3:18 PM, Paul Stenquist wrote:
For me the choice of black and white over color is more about mood and
expression rather than a need to parse the photos elements. BW is
subtle, romantic and laid back. Color is vibrant active and alive. Of
course there are degrees of expression within each genre. Punchy, high
contrast BW moves toward vibrant while muted color approaches subtle. It’s
all about what one wants a photo to say.
Paul
On Mar 16, 2018, at 2:51 PM, Larry Colen <[email protected]> wrote:
One of the nice things about digital photography is being able to
choose after the fact whether to process a photo as color or black and
white. Technically, I suppose that was also possible with color film,
not that it was often done.
Sometimes photos work as color, black and white, an some look great for
different reasons in both.
Since the most effective way to promote discussion on the net is to
post something that people disagree with, I'll mention some of my
thoughts on the subject.
For me it boils down to contrast, and whether you want to emphasize or
demphasize something. Generally, I want to deemphasize anything in a
photo that doesn't make a significant improvement, and I want to
emphasize things that do look good. Sometimes color differences will
make something stand out. If that's your subject, great, if it's a
random bit in the background, less so. Similarly often things with
different colors will have similar tonality, so converting to black and
white can deemphasize them. Likewise, by tweaking the response to
different colors in the conversion you can increase or decrease the
emphasis.
Thoughts? Expansion? Arguments?
--
Larry Colen [email protected] (postbox on min4est)
http://red4est.com/lrc
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