capturing the soul in an image ! (Page 8): Try capturing the "Soul" of this in B&W.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Imagemine wrote:

Monochrome will capture the soul of an image if the colors aren't interesting , still color can produce interesting photos but B&W goes all the way to the soul + B&W can be more forgiving . It has been said when you shoot in color it only gets to the surface . So everybody commit on this subject .

Try capturing the "Soul" of this in B&W.

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Imagemine wrote:

..........
It has been said when you shoot in
color it only gets to the surface ......
..........

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revhen Loc: By the beautiful Hudson

Life ain't black & white. There are nuances, colors if you will, that make people interesting. Remember, AA took some 10,000 Kodachrome photos that are as spectacular in their own way as his b&w's. One can be artistic in both color and black and white. Think Rembrandts etchings, Michelangelo's sketches.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Monochrome/Character?

I am late to this party. I was hesitant to join in. Let me explain why I avoid these monochrome vs.
color conversation and if one is superior to the other in expressing character, mood, reality and in this case "soul". Let's define "soul" as the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life. The spiritual principal embodied in human beings, all-natural spiritual beings, or the universe. HEAVY STUFF! That what it says in the dictionary so I'll go with it.

A photograph has to be incredibly well-crafted on many levels to encompass all of that. For an image to be that profound it would have to be comprised of many excellent, coordinated components where tone or color is not the singular determining factor in judging whether or not "soul" has been captured. There is composition, contrast, gradation of tones, color harmony or disharmony, mood, key, line, texture, lighting usage, and of course content and statement. That only the obvious technical stuff. The here is the psychology, the relationship of subjects or objects, theme, storytelling content, style and so much more.

Weh the usual truisms, arguments, traditional knowledge statements- some if ti is true, some of it is hackneyed parroted old adages that just keep being repeated like "black and white photographer has more character, require more discipline or skills, and pretty colors mask bad craftsmanship, etc. OR Color is more realistic, color photography is more complex, the color just complicates things, etc. I do not vehemently disagree or agree- my attitude is like the old song "It Ain't Necessarily So"!

There can be equally great or downright lousy photographs in either medium. A color portrait can bring out as much soul as a monochromatic one, again the are just too many other components to boil it all down to the medium.
Many of y'all practice photography as an art. It is really fair to make blanket statements and say that oil paintings are superior to watercolors, etchings are superior to pen and ink works, or that pastels are better or worse than charcoal renditions. Should not the artist decide on the medium to express the "soul" of any subject? Shod the arts not work in what he or she has best mastered and use the method that best expresses his or her interpretation of whatever he or she is capturing?

Working in color or black and white has certain commonalities and some different disciplines Some techniques are similar and others divergent. And...capturing "soul" goes beyond technologies. You can't buy perception at the camera store!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

E.L.. Shapiro wrote:

Monochrome/Character?

I am late to this party. I was hesitant to join in. Let me explain why I avoid these monochrome vs.
color conversation and if one is superior to the other in expressing character, mood, reality and in this case "soul". Let's define "soul" as the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life. The spiritual principal embodied in human beings, all-natural spiritual beings, or the universe. HEAVY STUFF! That what it says in the dictionary so I'll go with it.

A photograph has to be incredibly well-crafted on many levels to encompass all of that. For an image to be that profound it would have to be comprised of many excellent, coordinated components where tone or color is not the singular determining factor in judging whether or not "soul" has been captured. There is composition, contrast, gradation of tones, color harmony or disharmony, mood, key, line, texture, lighting usage, and of course content and statement. That only the obvious technical stuff. The here is the psychology, the relationship of subjects or objects, theme, storytelling content, style and so much more.

Weh the usual truisms, arguments, traditional knowledge statements- some if ti is true, some of it is hackneyed parroted old adages that just keep being repeated like "black and white photographer has more character, require more discipline or skills, and pretty colors mask bad craftsmanship, etc. OR Color is more realistic, color photography is more complex, the color just complicates things, etc. I do not vehemently disagree or agree- my attitude is like the old song "It Ain't Necessarily So"!

There can be equally great or downright lousy photographs in either medium. A color portrait can bring out as much soul as a monochromatic one, again the are just too many other components to boil it all down to the medium.
Many of y'all practice photography as an art. It is really fair to make blanket statements and say that oil paintings are superior to watercolors, etchings are superior to pen and ink works, or that pastels are better or worse than charcoal renditions. Should not the artist decide on the medium to express the "soul" of any subject? Shod the arts not work in what he or she has best mastered and use the method that best expresses his or her interpretation of whatever he or she is capturing?

Working in color or black and white has certain commonalities and some different disciplines Some techniques are similar and others divergent. And...capturing "soul" goes beyond technologies. You can't buy perception at the camera store!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Monochrome/Character? br br I am late to this par... (show quote)

Well said!

srt101fan

Linda From Maine wrote:

I don't believe I ever saw it. Tell me!

btw, if anyone saw "Casablanca" colorized, did you gag and throw your drink at the screen?

"The Third Man" is a great movie of the "film noir" genre.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Man

srt101fan

E.L.. Shapiro wrote:

Monochrome/Character?

I am late to this party. I was hesitant to join in. Let me explain why I avoid these monochrome vs.
color conversation and if one is superior to the other in expressing character, mood, reality and in this case "soul". Let's define "soul" as the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life. The spiritual principal embodied in human beings, all-natural spiritual beings, or the universe. HEAVY STUFF! That what it says in the dictionary so I'll go with it.

A photograph has to be incredibly well-crafted on many levels to encompass all of that. For an image to be that profound it would have to be comprised of many excellent, coordinated components where tone or color is not the singular determining factor in judging whether or not "soul" has been captured. There is composition, contrast, gradation of tones, color harmony or disharmony, mood, key, line, texture, lighting usage, and of course content and statement. That only the obvious technical stuff. The here is the psychology, the relationship of subjects or objects, theme, storytelling content, style and so much more.

Weh the usual truisms, arguments, traditional knowledge statements- some if ti is true, some of it is hackneyed parroted old adages that just keep being repeated like "black and white photographer has more character, require more discipline or skills, and pretty colors mask bad craftsmanship, etc. OR Color is more realistic, color photography is more complex, the color just complicates things, etc. I do not vehemently disagree or agree- my attitude is like the old song "It Ain't Necessarily So"!

There can be equally great or downright lousy photographs in either medium. A color portrait can bring out as much soul as a monochromatic one, again the are just too many other components to boil it all down to the medium.
Many of y'all practice photography as an art. It is really fair to make blanket statements and say that oil paintings are superior to watercolors, etchings are superior to pen and ink works, or that pastels are better or worse than charcoal renditions. Should not the artist decide on the medium to express the "soul" of any subject? Shod the arts not work in what he or she has best mastered and use the method that best expresses his or her interpretation of whatever he or she is capturing?

Working in color or black and white has certain commonalities and some different disciplines Some techniques are similar and others divergent. And...capturing "soul" goes beyond technologies. You can't buy perception at the camera store!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Monochrome/Character? br br I am late to this par... (show quote)

Good comments as usual, E.L., but your definition of "soul" ignores another definition of the word, the one that applies to this discussion: "emotional or intellectual energy or intensity, especially as revealed in a work of art or an artistic performance."

rochephoto

I captured the soul of the sole of my shoe and it was pretty much the same in B&W and Color. The shoes were new so maybe I should have waited till the sole of the shoe had more soul? But a more worn sole may not produce more soul. I would want to ask James Brown about the Soul of the sole of any shoe I photographed, solely because he has more soul on the sole of his shoe than any picture represented here. Unfortunately, he has passed. God bless his soul and the sole of his shoes.

uspsa

Imagemine wrote:

Monochrome will capture the soul of an image if the colors aren't interesting , still color can produce interesting photos but B&W goes all the way to the soul + B&W can be more forgiving . It has been said when you shoot in color it only gets to the surface . So everybody commit on this subject .

Would Ansell Adam's pictures be as dramatic in color. I don't think so.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

uspsa wrote:

Would Ansell Adam's pictures be as dramatic in color. I don't think so.

Then you've never seen his color work.

http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1932762_1974604,00.html

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Gene51 wrote:

Then you've never seen his color work.

http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1932762_1974604,00.html

I have seen his color work, and I still like his B&W better. He did say he didn't have the control over color in the darkroom that he did with B&W.

Alafoto Loc: Montgomery, AL

MrBob wrote:

Its embedded in the current culture Linda... Every... (show quote)

A close acquaintance with Sam Adams (or his cousins, Bob Budweiser, Michelle Michelobe, et al) may make us sometimes THINK,mistakenly, that we are Ansel Adams. Hasn't worked for me yet. Still well short of perfection.

martykovacs

WOW! As a newbie to the world of photography, thank you rgrenagerphoto for the comparison photo. A beautiful lesson in subject & composition.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Gene51 wrote:

Then you've never seen his color work.

http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1932762_1974604,00.html

So true, thank you for the education and illumination of us all.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

8 pages of silliness. B&W is an art form. Just like color is an art form. B&W for me gets
a better story telling because I am now the age when I remember most family pics etc were B&W.
These are 2 of my favorite b&w photos and one of a kid at a birthday party that can't imagine not it in color.
I am working on some arty renditions of ballet studio I was videoing. This could be color or BW.
Photo uploads out of order. I think that BW imagery is more towards journalistic. More impactful at times.
End of my story.

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