Why B&W When You Have Colour?
Apr 20, 2018 07:05:08 #
Feiertag wrote:
Beautiful photos, Bill. I like the coloured one better.
The black and white belongs in a museum and the color rendition belongs in an envelope in a closet, but that's just me. On the other hand 99% of my photos are
color. I should experiment with black and white more. As has been said they can be very dramatic. For example...Ansel Adams.
Apr 20, 2018 07:10:40 #
Pablo8 wrote:
I, like many others I suppose, was brought up on B&W photography. Working with newspapers, where B&W was the norm. Gradually colour was introduced, perhaps just on two pages. I got my distinctions with the Royal Photographic Society, and Master Photographers Association, with panels of B&W Prints. I think D76 runs in my veins.
I agree. I grew up shooting both B&W and Color. The B&W were negatives/prints and easily done at home in the darkroom. I also was a stringer/photographer for the Daily Oklahoman / Oklahoma City Times.. (Daily Oklahoman was the morning paper and the Times the evening.. both owned by the same newspaper company). I also was the senior photographer/photo instructor for the Putnam City High School and shot photos of all of the sports, assemblies etc. We shot everything in B&W for ease of developing/printing... but I also shot color slides and Cibachrome with all were developed in my darkroom (either at school or at home). B&W was easier/faster to process but it also had a terrific quality that if done right, could create dramatic photos that could not be done in color.
Apr 20, 2018 07:31:17 #
Retina
Loc: Near Charleston,SC
Feiertag wrote:
Colour is natural and alive. B&W photos are flat and dull to my eyes. To each their own but what is the attraction to B&W? Just curious.
Harold
Harold
It is like the attraction of paint on canvas, also flat by definition, compared with sculptures which use all three dimensions. Maybe sculpting is less popular than oil or water color on canvas because sculptures usually lack color. I think you are onto something there! Seriously, I never heard a critic of pen and ink complain about the lack of red, green, or blue though a young child might also ask, also out of innocent curiosity.
Apr 20, 2018 07:33:22 #
I guess if you don't see it, you don't see it. I love black and white portraits when they are well done. You can focus on the detail without being distracted by colours or hijacked by too many or too garish colours. A black and white landscape can be wonderful as well. Have you ever looked at Ansel Adams' work?
Feiertag wrote:
Colour is natural and alive. B&W photos are flat and dull to my eyes. To each their own but what is the attraction to B&W? Just curious.
Harold
Harold
Apr 20, 2018 07:34:26 #
Good read!
Advanced Digital Black & White Photography (A Lark Photography Book) Paperback – October 1, 2007
https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Digital-Black-White-Photography/dp/1600592104
Advanced Digital Black & White Photography (A Lark Photography Book) Paperback – October 1, 2007
https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Digital-Black-White-Photography/dp/1600592104
Apr 20, 2018 07:36:00 #
Actually Harold, I find that the starkness of B & W adds and element to certain scenes that colour doesn't. And yes, you are right. We do see in colour so B & W is not natural.
Back in my "kid" days, colour was expensive and therefore limited in usage. Periodicals did not publish pic's in color. so there was a lot more use of B & W.
Back in my "kid" days, colour was expensive and therefore limited in usage. Periodicals did not publish pic's in color. so there was a lot more use of B & W.
Apr 20, 2018 07:58:12 #
Apr 20, 2018 08:00:39 #
If you shoot in color, you can expect red,blue, green and yellow. When shooting B&W , you are dealing with white, black and grey.
It usually is more challenging to get a good picture. Have fun! Shoot a lot!
It usually is more challenging to get a good picture. Have fun! Shoot a lot!
Apr 20, 2018 08:06:28 #
DIRTY HARRY wrote:
Ever hear of Ansel Adams?
Wasn't he the fifth Beatle? John, Paul, George, Ringo and Ansel. B^)
Apr 20, 2018 08:06:57 #
abscess
Loc: Marblehead, Ma. And winter in Naples, Fl
It’s funny this was brought up. My wife and I watched an old movie a while back. We mentioned it to our son who said it was shot in black and white. We both said no-color. It was black and white. So I guess our minds just colored it
Apr 20, 2018 08:18:04 #
Feiertag wrote:
A little sensitive are we? I was backing Crosby's team. You are lucky to have him in your state. I wish he would come home.
Obviously you are not familiar with Pittsburghese, otherwise you would have gotten the joke. But then again you can't get the value or even accept the value others find in B&W when it is explained to you in response to your own request for the explanations.
However, you post seems to have had a positive result. A lot of those on the thread seem to be excited about experimenting more with B&W!
So good job!
Apr 20, 2018 08:29:05 #
Feiertag wrote:
Colour is natural and alive. B&W photos are flat and dull to my eyes. To each their own but what is the attraction to B&W? Just curious.
GOSH ...
After reading your defensive reply to leftj it seems as though your opening post may have been intended as an insulting salvo against everyone who doesn't share your aesthetic sensibilities rather than a genuine query ...
Feiertag wrote:
I never once stated that I didn't like other photographers' B&W captures. I was referring to my own limited feeble attempts at B&W. I sucked at it and gave up.
Your subsequent post (above) hints at the nub of the matter ...
* As 'full disclosure', in addition to an undergraduate degree at a normal Liberal Arts university, I also studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (ars gratia artis, and all) ...
To state what should be obvious: People take pictures for different reasons ...
.... and, it appears that at this stage in your life, "memories" seem to be the primary purpose of your photography.
Without going into too much detail (based on the images which you posted), your B&W images suck because they lack composition and/or framing.
So, while they are snapshots which capture the moment for you (nothing wrong with that, per se) which undoubtedly evokes something in your memory, that's really all they are ...
And so, as memory aids, B&W images don't work for you.
If you want your pictures to be more than memory aids then you need to think about how your frame-and/or-compose your images -- exclusion & inclusion within the frame.
Apr 20, 2018 08:30:57 #
The thing I find distressing at this point is the OP ask a question that is sure to draw dissenting views; attacks in a belligerent tone anyone who holds a different opinion than himself, and continues this rant for now 13 pages.
The rest of you can stick around for this abuse if you wish but I find this to not be constructive and I'm out of here. I can find trolls on Facebook.
The rest of you can stick around for this abuse if you wish but I find this to not be constructive and I'm out of here. I can find trolls on Facebook.
Apr 20, 2018 08:34:59 #
Apr 20, 2018 08:48:57 #
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