Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[John]

Not much my taste either, but it's an image that just doesn't work in B, 
strong image or not.


On 3/17/2018 21:48, William Robb wrote:

I'm wondering how that would be a strong image in the first place.

On Mar 17, 2018 10:07 AM, "John"  wrote:


On 3/17/2018 00:56, Bill wrote:

To me, colour generally works for weaker compositions. It's sort of the

photographic equivalent of baffle them with bullshit.
Strong composition will work in either colour or B, weaker composition
may work in colour because of the colour (yer average sunset, for example),
but will likely not succeed in B

bill



Color works where it's an integral part of the image. How are you going to
shoot a Saint Paddy's Day parade in B?





--
Science - Questions we may never find answers for.
Religion - Answers we must never question.

--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[Ken Waller]

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 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  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  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  l...@red4est.com (postbox on min4est) 
http://red4est.com/lrc




--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[John Francis]

On Mon, Mar 19, 2018 at 11:37:44AM -0400, Stanley Halpin wrote:
> I think color easily detracts from an image. Many of my own personal 
> favorites are monochromatic.

That's a (perfectly valid) personal viewpoint, of course.  Not everyone thinks 
that way.

My wife finds that monochrome detracts from an image, because the world isn't 
like that.
It emphasises that she is looking at an artistic creation, not at a true 
representation.

-- 
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[Stanley Halpin]

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 
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  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  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  l...@red4est.com (postbox on min4est) http://red4est.com/lrc
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
>>> PDML@pdml.net
>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and 
>>> follow the directions.
> 
> 
> -- 
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> PDML@pdml.net
> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
> the directions.


-- 
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[William Robb]

On Sat, Mar 17, 2018 at 8:16 PM Paul Stenquist  wrote:

> I realize all are speaking tongue in cheek here, but I recall some
> dramatic images from Chicago’s Southside Irish parades. And some post
> parade shots from NY’s Hell’s Kitchen with green garb and red blood. Great
> stuff.


More speaking in generalizations. Obviously there are going to be outliers.

Bill

>
>
> Paul
>
> > On Mar 17, 2018, at 9:48 PM, William Robb 
> wrote:
> >
> > I'm wondering how that would be a strong image in the first place.
> >
> >> On Mar 17, 2018 10:07 AM, "John"  wrote:
> >>
> >> On 3/17/2018 00:56, Bill wrote:
> >>
> >> To me, colour generally works for weaker compositions. It's sort of the
> >>> photographic equivalent of baffle them with bullshit.
> >>> Strong composition will work in either colour or B, weaker
> composition
> >>> may work in colour because of the colour (yer average sunset, for
> example),
> >>> but will likely not succeed in B
> >>>
> >>> bill
> >>>
> >>>
> >> Color works where it's an integral part of the image. How are you going
> to
> >> shoot a Saint Paddy's Day parade in B?
> >>
> >> --
> >> Science - Questions we may never find answers for.
> >> Religion - Answers we must never question.
> >>
> >> --
> >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> >> PDML@pdml.net
> >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
> >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and
> >> follow the directions.
> >>
> > --
> > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> > PDML@pdml.net
> > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
> > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and
> follow the directions.
>
> --
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> PDML@pdml.net
> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and
> follow the directions.
-- 
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[Paul Stenquist]

I realize all are speaking tongue in cheek here, but I recall some dramatic 
images from Chicago’s Southside Irish parades. And some post parade shots from 
NY’s Hell’s Kitchen with green garb and red blood. Great stuff.

Paul

> On Mar 17, 2018, at 9:48 PM, William Robb  wrote:
> 
> I'm wondering how that would be a strong image in the first place.
> 
>> On Mar 17, 2018 10:07 AM, "John"  wrote:
>> 
>> On 3/17/2018 00:56, Bill wrote:
>> 
>> To me, colour generally works for weaker compositions. It's sort of the
>>> photographic equivalent of baffle them with bullshit.
>>> Strong composition will work in either colour or B, weaker composition
>>> may work in colour because of the colour (yer average sunset, for example),
>>> but will likely not succeed in B
>>> 
>>> bill
>>> 
>>> 
>> Color works where it's an integral part of the image. How are you going to
>> shoot a Saint Paddy's Day parade in B?
>> 
>> --
>> Science - Questions we may never find answers for.
>> Religion - Answers we must never question.
>> 
>> --
>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
>> PDML@pdml.net
>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and
>> follow the directions.
>> 
> -- 
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> PDML@pdml.net
> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
> the directions.

-- 
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[ann sanfedele]

HAR!

ann

On 3/17/2018 9:48 PM, William Robb wrote:

I'm wondering how that would be a strong image in the first place.

On Mar 17, 2018 10:07 AM, "John"  wrote:

Color works where it's an integral part of the image. How are you 
going to shoot a Saint Paddy's Day parade in B?

-



--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[William Robb]

I'm wondering how that would be a strong image in the first place.

On Mar 17, 2018 10:07 AM, "John"  wrote:

> On 3/17/2018 00:56, Bill wrote:
>
> To me, colour generally works for weaker compositions. It's sort of the
>> photographic equivalent of baffle them with bullshit.
>> Strong composition will work in either colour or B, weaker composition
>> may work in colour because of the colour (yer average sunset, for example),
>> but will likely not succeed in B
>>
>> bill
>>
>>
> Color works where it's an integral part of the image. How are you going to
> shoot a Saint Paddy's Day parade in B?
>
> --
> Science - Questions we may never find answers for.
> Religion - Answers we must never question.
>
> --
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> PDML@pdml.net
> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and
> follow the directions.
>
-- 
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[John]

On 3/17/2018 00:56, Bill wrote:

To me, colour generally works for weaker compositions. It's sort of the 
photographic equivalent of baffle them with bullshit.
Strong composition will work in either colour or B, weaker composition may 
work in colour because of the colour (yer average sunset, for example), but will 
likely not succeed in B


bill



Color works where it's an integral part of the image. How are you going to shoot 
a Saint Paddy's Day parade in B?


--
Science - Questions we may never find answers for.
Religion - Answers we must never question.

--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[Bill]

On 3/16/2018 12:51 PM, Larry Colen 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?



To me, colour generally works for weaker compositions. It's sort of the 
photographic equivalent of baffle them with bullshit.
Strong composition will work in either colour or B, weaker composition 
may work in colour because of the colour (yer average sunset, for 
example), but will likely not succeed in B


bill

--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[ann sanfedele]

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  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  l...@red4est.com (postbox on min4est) http://red4est.com/lrc


--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.



--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[Larry Colen]

Bruce Walker wrote:

I'm still figuring out my reasons for going with b, but they
generally incorporate some of your points, especially the subject
isolation, with some of Paul's -- mood, etc.

I find that a lot of spontaneous location shots will have a
disharmonious colour palette, so b removes that factor entirely and
improves the image no end.

The more I study folks like Peter Lindbergh the more I admire good
b, and try to emulate that style.

A really handy feature of b is free skin processing. Portraits of
most folks look quite a bit better in b than colour, especially if
they have any skin redness or blotchiness. And for even more free
retouching, simply adding the digital equivalent of a red filter helps
enormously.



You reminded me of other advantages of B A lot of time stage lighting 
is really ugly colors, and sometimes the lighting on someplace will be a 
bizarre mixture of yellow from the lights, blue from the window and 
green reflected from the dojo mats (for example), and black and white 
can just make all of those problems go away.


Noise is another big thing. To me, a noisy photo in black and white just 
looks "vintage". I'm used to black and white low light photos looking 
grainy, so noisy black and white isn't as jarring as noisy color.  This 
was especially true on my K20 which would have tremendous amounts of 
noise in the blue channel.


--
Larry Colen  l...@red4est.com (postbox on min4est) http://red4est.com/lrc


--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[Bruce Walker]

I'm still figuring out my reasons for going with b, but they
generally incorporate some of your points, especially the subject
isolation, with some of Paul's -- mood, etc.

I find that a lot of spontaneous location shots will have a
disharmonious colour palette, so b removes that factor entirely and
improves the image no end.

The more I study folks like Peter Lindbergh the more I admire good
b, and try to emulate that style.

A really handy feature of b is free skin processing. Portraits of
most folks look quite a bit better in b than colour, especially if
they have any skin redness or blotchiness. And for even more free
retouching, simply adding the digital equivalent of a red filter helps
enormously.


On Fri, Mar 16, 2018 at 2:51 PM, Larry Colen  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  l...@red4est.com (postbox on min4est) http://red4est.com/lrc
>
>
> --
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> PDML@pdml.net
> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and
> follow the directions.



-- 
-bmw

-- 
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

Re: What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[Paul Stenquist]

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  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  l...@red4est.com (postbox on min4est) http://red4est.com/lrc
> 
> 
> -- 
> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
> PDML@pdml.net
> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
> the directions.

-- 
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.

What makes a photo work in color or black and white

[Larry Colen]

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  l...@red4est.com (postbox on min4est) http://red4est.com/lrc


--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
PDML@pdml.net
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow 
the directions.