Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Bruce Cox on April 30, 2013, 04:26:14 pm

Title: red, green and gray
Post by: Bruce Cox on April 30, 2013, 04:26:14 pm
The natural color of the subject orchid here does not work well with others.  I made it black and white, but I prefer the greater definition of space this palette allows.  Yes, no, maybe?
Title: Re: red, green and gray
Post by: shutterpup on April 30, 2013, 05:32:00 pm
I've always loved orchids for their rich coloration. I love black and white. These two things do not play well together for me.
Title: Re: red, green and gray
Post by: David Eckels on April 30, 2013, 08:32:23 pm
I like the B/W rendition, but I have to say I find the background distracting.
Title: Re: red, green and gray
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on May 02, 2013, 03:58:55 am
The natural color of the subject orchid here does not work well with others.  I made it black and white, but I prefer the greater definition of space this palette allows.  Yes, no, maybe?

The texture of the flower is appealing. The background, though, is fussy and intrusive, and has a rather nasty green tinge.

Jeremy
Title: Re: red, green and gray
Post by: stamper on May 02, 2013, 04:17:32 am
I also saw the green tinge and wondered if it was my profile. I have almost given up on shooting flower images because of the problem of cluttered backgrounds and lack of depth of field. Flower images are difficult and getting a good one, or more, takes hard work. I agree generally with the others that you haven't succeeded. Thumbs down.  :'(
Title: Re: red, green and gray
Post by: Bruce Cox on May 02, 2013, 09:52:47 am
I also saw the green tinge and wondered if it was my profile. I have almost given up on shooting flower images because of the problem of cluttered backgrounds and lack of depth of field. Flower images are difficult and getting a good one, or more, takes hard work. I agree generally with the others that you haven't succeeded. Thumbs down.  :'(

I thank all you for your responses.  I am sorry for the clutter [Stacy warned me, but... ].  I was more interested in the red, green and gray.  On my monitor at home and now on this monitor, both calibrated, the picture is clearly tinted red and green with a more neutral dark base.  That this is difficult for others to see [or imagine to be intentional] and even more difficult for them to like is informative.  
Title: Re: red, green and gray
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on May 03, 2013, 03:53:37 am
I also saw the green tinge and wondered if it was my profile.

I too wondered if it was my profile, or indeed the third-rate screen on my 6-year-old MacBook Pro, so I ran the Digital ColorMeter utility to check. Very handy.

Jeremy
Title: Re: red, green and gray
Post by: stamper on May 03, 2013, 04:30:36 am
Years ago when I done B&W printing before the neutral ink carts were available I regularly saw the green tingeing effect on my prints that I see now on the monitor. On close inspection I see the red tingeing but the green dominates it. Are you stating that the green is an artistic effect?
Title: Re: red, green and gray
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on May 03, 2013, 09:03:50 am
Here's my take as a red-green color deficient guy: To me it looks like a pretty good monochrome rendition, but the background is indeed distracting.
No matter how I try, I can't see any green tinge or any red tinge. But the texture in the petals is nice in monochrome.
Title: Re: red, green and gray
Post by: Bruce Cox on May 03, 2013, 11:55:05 am
Years ago when I done B&W printing before the neutral ink carts were available I regularly saw the green tingeing effect on my prints that I see now on the monitor. On close inspection I see the red tingeing but the green dominates it. Are you stating that the green is an artistic effect?

I am stating that the red and green and gray together are an artistic effect.  More so if I can talk you into seeing it as something which enhances the spacial reading of the image.  Less so if it just makes you sick.     I generally prefer fairly neutrally hued Black and White to mono chromatic tints such as Sepia because there is a wider gradient in B & W.  By using tints in two arbitrary hues besides black I hoped to define the scene more fully than B & W.  Maybe I have been looking at too many color gradients in PhotoShop, but I fancy that I can see more about the leaf under the flower to the left than I could with fewer hues.