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