Colour vs. B&W

I am a novice, so bear with me. I have printed the attached pix in bot colour and B&W, and am looking for comments ( I have a thick skin). I am partial to the b&w thiniking it is much mor dramtic. Ideas????

http://www.pbase.com/motib/colour_vs_bw

Moti said:

I am a novice, so bear with me. I have printed the attached pix in
bot colour and B&W, and am looking for comments ( I have a thick
skin). I am partial to the b&w thiniking it is much mor dramtic.
Ideas????

Click to expand...

Moti #79385 said:

http://www.pbase.com/motib/colour_vs_bw

Click to expand...

Coming from a B&W background, I've turned against B&W because I think it's become a crutch/excuse to not do color. Color is harder to do as it requires you to seperate your color subject matter out of a colored environment as opposed to using B&W and shades of gray to do it for you.

An example would be to seperate out a tree truck from green foliage as they're easily seperated out of each other in B&W but hard to do so in color as foliage and tree trunks are basically the same shade of coloration so there's no dramatic seperation.

In the case of the shot you presented, I would suggest the use of a Circular Polarizer as it would lend a dramatic shift in the coloration of the sky and thereby present a dramatic tonal shift away from the building.

It takes a while to see the dramatic colors that are around us and it takes even longer to be able to capture these dramatics in different color forms.

Give a "high" quality (they ain't cheap) Circular Polarizer a try. Why do you need a "high" quality CirPl? Because of the coating. The better the coating the fewer internal reflections and therefor less flare, which will have the added benefit of creating a stronger image. To me, in outdoor color phtography, a "high" quality CirPl is not an option, it's a must have.

Hope this helps and good luck.

--
If you don't want to believe me, ignore me

Moti said:

I am a novice, so bear with me. I have printed the attached pix in
bot colour and B&W, and am looking for comments ( I have a thick
skin). I am partial to the b&w thiniking it is much mor dramtic.
Ideas????

http://www.pbase.com/motib/colour_vs_bw

Click to expand...

I prefer the black and white one. The colour one doesn't really do much for me, whereas the black and white on is much better )

Chris.

How did you do the conversion to B&W? Did you only desaturate or do a simple grayscale conversion w/ nothing else?

I guess I prefer the B&W image, but I would've liked a bit more contrast, ie. drama and punch.

BTW, I also can see what Thomas is saying although I don't have a whole background in photography (either color or B&W). Don't let it become a crutch. I'm probably not far ahead of you at all, but ideally, I would want to shoot for B&W where B&W suits the imagery and composition vs using B&W conversion as a fallback from shooting color. Of course, I imagine it's also very valid (and probably quite difficult) to shoot in color specifically for a mixed imagery (or series of images). My Blackout 2003 series sort of ended up that way, but I didn't know enough at the time to want the mix (or even to do B&W) w/ them -- and I'm still wondering about some revision to the series for a better, more seamless blend...

Man

Moti said:

I am a novice, so bear with me. I have printed the attached pix in
bot colour and B&W, and am looking for comments ( I have a thick
skin). I am partial to the b&w thiniking it is much mor dramtic.
Ideas????

http://www.pbase.com/motib/colour_vs_bw

Click to expand...

--
Let's go YANKEES!
email: [email protected]
gallery: http://www.pbase.com/mandnwong

Man-Fai Wong said:

I guess I prefer the B&W image, but I would've liked a bit more
contrast, ie. drama and punch.

BTW, I also can see what Thomas is saying although I don't have a
whole background in photography (either color or B&W). Don't let
it become a crutch. I'm probably not far ahead of you at all, but
ideally, I would want to shoot for B&W where B&W suits the imagery
and composition vs using B&W conversion as a fallback from shooting
color. Of course, I imagine it's also very valid (and probably
quite difficult) to shoot in color specifically for a mixed imagery
(or series of images). My Blackout 2003 series sort of ended up
that way, but I didn't know enough at the time to want the mix (or
even to do B&W) w/ them -- and I'm still wondering about some
revision to the series for a better, more seamless blend...

Man

Moti said:

I am a novice, so bear with me. I have printed the attached pix in
bot colour and B&W, and am looking for comments ( I have a thick
skin). I am partial to the b&w thiniking it is much mor dramtic.
Ideas????

http://www.pbase.com/motib/colour_vs_bw

Click to expand...

--
Let's go YANKEES!
email: [email protected]
gallery: http://www.pbase.com/mandnwong

Click to expand...

Thanks for your comments. I just did a simple 'click-it' conversion and then darkened it up a little.

Love them both.....The B&W really beautiful I would dark it a bit....
just a bit (((-:

YAFE MEOD

AR

Moti said:

I am a novice, so bear with me. I have printed the attached pix in
bot colour and B&W, and am looking for comments ( I have a thick
skin). I am partial to the b&w thiniking it is much mor dramtic.
Ideas????

http://www.pbase.com/motib/colour_vs_bw

Click to expand...

They are both nice images, but coming from a B&W background I offer the following. First the composition, I would crop a little from the right side, to give a better balance, esp with the B&W. Secondly, the sky doesn't work as well in the B&W as it does in the color version. The image in B&W is ok, but nothing really sets it apart or draws my eye. A B&W may have it's own set of parameters as far as the rules go, some images can be one or the other equally as effective, but they are not as common as you mifgt believe. I prefer the color...

Thanx... Alan

Life is too short not to enjoy...

In the color image the clouds look blown out, but they have all the detail in the B&W. This surprised me and makes me wonder if there is something special hear for post processing over exposed images.

Morris

Moti said:

I am a novice, so bear with me. I have printed the attached pix in
bot colour and B&W, and am looking for comments ( I have a thick
skin). I am partial to the b&w thiniking it is much mor dramtic.
Ideas????

http://www.pbase.com/motib/colour_vs_bw

Click to expand...

Hello Moti,

I also like the b&w version, but not for the drama. I think it enhances the timeless strength apparent in the lines and shapes of the building. And shooting the building square-on would close the deal on that theme (In My Humble Opinion). Excellent work!

Warm Wishes,
-Andy