Luminous Landscape Forum
The Art of Photography => User Critiques => Topic started by: Chris Calohan on September 18, 2013, 12:55:31 pm
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"A Walkway Along Carmel Beach"
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5517/9803302895_7d58151dc3_o.jpg)
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7300/9803302665_ae4e5e9340_o.jpg)
Cjogo, you should recognize this shot.
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Black & White --- great spot :-)
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B/W!
Rob C
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B/W!
Rob C
+1
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Running counter to the crowd, and indeed to my normal preference, I'll vote for the colour. The sky isn't interesting as a grey shade.
Jremy
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Running counter to the crowd, and indeed to my normal preference, I'll vote for the colour. The sky isn't interesting as a grey shade.Jremy
Neither in colour; but the b/w could be tarted up!
Rob C
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Running counter to my normal preference: B+W. I like how the bark looks.
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In this case, I like B&W more.
A B&W image is almost always about emphasizing tonality, texture, and form. This is done by stripping away the distracting noise (I don't mean sensor read noise) of color. In this case, the color image is jarring against the soothing meditative study of tones and texture in the B&W. Did you want jarring or did you want a meditative study of tones?
I am sorry, but I am going to rant for a moment about all these threads asking about B&W versus color. This decision is about what YOU like and what YOU are trying to emphasize and what YOU want to communicate. Don't ask me. Let the image speak to you and make a choice. Perhaps some of us would then critique that choice, but know that you are the creative director of your photography and make your style. Don't apologize or ask for permission to like what you like.
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Well, since everyone gets an opinion, I prefer the subtleties of the colour here. I don't find this image in B&W as interesting. My $0.02!
Mike.
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Guess I'm coming from the days .. when you made the decision with :: the back on your camera or the camera body in your hands or the holder in your camera > had either Colour ~~ B&W pre-loaded. I evaluated the scene to make the decision .... then captured the image the way it best would be displayed.
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Which of course was well before the days of Photoshop which can change your perspective rather quickly. Sometimes I shoot knowing the image is going to be B&W. Other times, while I shot for color because it is the default for digital, when it came up in Bridge, it was a maybe, maybe not; this is such an image. My difficulty with jacking it up a step in B&W is finding a decent process that doesn't glom up fog and mist and in this image, I took as far as my PP skill would go without it looking like Lucy in the Sky with Oatmeal. Instead, I concentrated on making the canopy of two trees work with the walkway and shadows, making it an inviting scene more than specifically dramatic. I don't see the blue sky/fog/mist as jarring, actually, quite the opposite, rather soothing and calm.
However, Fike, you are right, the objecte de arte in this case was the texture, tone and form and thusly I needed to decide if I could successively realize the same in the color image and using a variety of techniques, I felt comfortable asking for other opinions.
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I don't think you lose the texture and form in the color version. Could you snap the trunks up a bit? Sure! But I agree with you the color in the sky conveys a soothing effect successfully to me anyway.
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I would definitely turn my LCD, on the camera, B&W -- If I was questioning a final image > I would be viewing my screen totally void of colour. The Canon 20d was that way out of the box w/filters for contrast on board ~!
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There are things about each I like, but in general I like the tone/feel of the BW, with adjustments though. To me the BW loses contrast most noticeably in the tree bark and the small branches against the sky, as well as seeming generally dark. The sky seems darker than would be my ideal for BW conversion of this image.
Just one person's opinion.