Freedom of chains or is it choice

mysteryscribe

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People, If you have to try to save it by going black and white, you probably can't. Black and white is a choice not an after thought. It isn't going to cure poor exposure, poor composition, poor planning any of those things. It is a thing unto itself and worthy of respect, not a bastard step child.
 
I agree!

I'm new to this game and shoot all colour, but sometimes I find that colour shot that I like, and feel it would look good in B&W. That is when I convert in Photoshop using different methods.
 
When I convert to black and white, it's so that the viewer concentrates on the texture and composition. I convert it because the color distracts and adds nothing.
 
For once, I tend to agree with Mystery Scribe. Black and white is not the answer to a shot that is poor in colour due to either technique or composition. Black and white requires extraordinary excellent composition and control of tonal variations that are most often not present.

skieur
 
Black and white and color photography are just the b@sta@rd stepchildren of HDR photography...which is just the b@sta@rd stepchild of HighRes/HDR 3D photography...which is just the b@sta@rd stepchild of full spectrum 3D HiResHDR photography... which is just the b@sta@rd stepchild of smell-o-vision.
 
I agree with your frustration over people thinking they can "save" poorly shot color photos by converting. However, this can be pulled off well if your only problem is poor color saturation.
 
I disagree. I took a shot which was clearly a deleter in colour, but black and white and a bit of tone control and it came out wonderfully.

It is a godsend when you just can't get the colour right. Agreed to do black and white really properly you need to be in a black and white mind state when you are shooting, but that doesn't mean that some poor colour photos (lacking only in colour and tone, and not some other compositional features) can't be saved by going black and white.
 
I disagree. I took a shot which was clearly a deleter in colour, but black and white and a bit of tone control and it came out wonderfully.

It is a godsend when you just can't get the colour right. Agreed to do black and white really properly you need to be in a black and white mind state when you are shooting, but that doesn't mean that some poor colour photos (lacking only in colour and tone, and not some other compositional features) can't be saved by going black and white.

Agreed.
I took this shot not with the intention of black and white but because the tram lines made a good leader into the image
calstdrp.jpg

In colour it was boring, flat and uninteresting. However, when i cropped it in on both sides and converted to mono it immediately became a really good shot.
I've sold several prints of this and it's actually the print i've sold most of.
 
I think this is a case of what is a poor shot as opposed to what is a better shot.

I came back to add this.

I have always shot film and still do, it's not really part of my mind set to convert anything. But what I was mainly thinking was the attempt to religate black and white as some kind of lesser craft and suitable to "save" an image that isnt quite good enough to be color. Sorry it if came off differently. It never occurs to me to see something one way then change it post process. Just chalk it up to old age.
 
I prefer to leave all options open in the creative process, and in doing so I don't believe I am disrespecting anything or anyone. Since there seem to be more rules and stipulations than ever these days about what is or isn't photography, or what a photographer is or isn't allowed to do, I am no longer going to use the label "photographer" to describe myself, and instead will refer to myself as an "artist who likes to use photographic tools and processes." ;)
 
Hey I called myself a photo artist for years, then decided I'd rather eat lol. Just kidding...

Photography is confusing enough as it was. These days there are rooms in the mansion we are just finding. Kind of like those vaults of Al Capone.

I have no idea what is what, just that I kind of hate to see someone try to save a bad image by changing it to black and white as if it were some kind of slush fund. If you want color I would think you would just reshoot it to get the color you want. If you want black and white, I would expect you to shoot black and white. I don't know I guess that is just old fashioned thinking.
 

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