Abondoned Barn at Sunset

[kalgra]

I don't care for it much in color...a bit on the garish colors side for my tastes (which obviously don't agree with many others..., but I do like it in B&W.

View attachment 129423

In the conversion, there seems to be a bit of banding in the sky. I generally see this in an edit where the original has not been processed in 16 bit.

Thanks for your input I do appreciate it. I don't prefer the B&W version you posted, I find it dull and uninteresting, perhaps that just speaks to the content of my photo. I always process in 16 bit so can't help you there. perhaps when I exported to jpeg and uploaded to flickr something else happened.

 

[bulldurham6 1]

Anytime you are moving files around on the internet, things tend to happen and rarely to the good side. I'm just not a huge fan of unnatural sky colors....it's really just me and my pissiness and should cause you to question your work.

 

[jcdeboever]

Anytime you are moving files around on the internet, things tend to happen and rarely to the good side. I'm just not a huge fan of unnatural sky colors....it's really just me and my pissiness and should cause you to question your work.

I rest my case ...

 

[WesternGuy]

If you really think that BLACK and WHITE is a cop-out, then you might want to go and check out the works of Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter, Edward Weston, Robert Mapplethorpe, Diane Arbus and an innumerable host of others. Their works were pretty well all in black and white and I doubt few of us, me included, could afford to purchase one of their originals today.

Black and white photography is stilled considered a very viable art form today as is demonstrated by the existence of magazines such as Black and White and ND Magazine, and a large number of websites and forums, including one here on TPF, devoted exclusively to Black and White imagery.

I would suggest that you might want to widen your horizons by checking out some of the Black and White photography masters, forums and publications on this subject. I know that they have helped me immensely with my photography, even colour photography.

WesternGuy

As I feared someone was going to take what I said out of context. I in no way meant to say or was saying that B&W in itself is a cop out. Some of my most favorite photographs ever have been and still are B&W. What I specifically said was this

"I might go aback and try B&W after some time has passed but Im really working hard to try and get better with my color processing. So I decided to just to commit to the vision I had and stick with it.
I often try on B&W with a lot of my stuff and sometimes just end up sticking with the B&W version because I couldn't get my colors right. I probably didn't nail the colors here either but I'm trying to force myself to grow.

Please, I hope that is not interpreted as a knock on B&W. On the contrary I often feel B&W can be even more difficult to get right. I'm just saying for me sometimes in the past I have used B&W as a cop out."

That said I am also not saying that my black and white versions were really what would be considered "good" B&W. What I was trying to say there is that at times I have settled on a B&W version simply because it worked better because I was not able to achieve the colors I wanted either in camera or post.

So I hope thats makes it clear that I am in NO way stating that B&W in itself is a cop out.

I am glad that you clarified your perspective, but I do not believe that what you said was taken out of context at all. Perhaps what you meant is that you often use black and white as an alternative in an attempt to produce a more definitive image - I don't know. Regardless, you managed to push one of my hot buttons when it comes to black and white photography. I do not believe that black and white imagery should be used in an attempt to "rescue" an image that perhaps did not appear to meet the photographer's expectations in the colour version and definitely should not be used to settle upon a final product. When I am shooting images, I will decide beforehand that I will eventually render an image in B&W, that way I am looking more at the tones, textures and patterns and their placement relative to each other in the final image. Chances are that if an image doesn't work in colour, it may not work in black and white - some may, but my experience has been that a lot of them don't.

In this case, I am in agreement with bulldurham that the rendering in black and white is as good, if not better, than that of its rendering in colour.

Regardless of any other viewer feels about your image, it is you as the artist that has the final say in how you present it, because in the end you have to like it, but please, do not see black and white as a "cop out" if the colour version of the image doesn't work. In these cases, and I have them as well, I would suggest you either rework the image in post-processing, or relegate, as I do, to the "recycle" bin. There is nothing wrong with reworking an image in post to bring out some aspects of the image and reduce the "influence" of other aspects - photographers do it all the time, but conversion to black and white should not be, in my humble opinion, one of those reworks. That is all I will say on this subject as I do believe that I have made my point.

WesternGuy

 

[bulldurham6 1]

What case was that?

 

[WesternGuy]

What case was that?

That case was this one where you converted it to black and white. Is that what you were looking for?

WesternGuy

 

[jcdeboever]

What case was that?

You take the OP original photo and convert it to B & W as that was CLEARLY not his vision. You also knocked his artistic expression because it doesn't fit in your classroom curriculum. This is not about critique, kid gloves, or anything like that. It is your occasional egotistical, experienced short sided snide comments. I am sure your a good dude but your communication is lacking in my opinion, maybe it's just the nature of "lost in translation" as it applies to text messages and forum type posting.

 

[FITBMX]

Nice shot!
But that's a small barn, more like a garden shed.

 

[bulldurham6 1]

What case was that?

You take the OP original photo and convert it to B & W as that was CLEARLY not his vision. You also knocked his artistic expression because it doesn't fit in your classroom curriculum. This is not about critique, kid gloves, or anything like that. It is your occasional egotistical, experienced short sided snide comments. I am sure your a good dude but your communication is lacking in my opinion, maybe it's just the nature of "lost in translation" as it applies to text messages and forum type posting.

Prior to my edit, two others suggested a B&W edit. I didn't like the color version and acting on their suggestions made the conversion. I think you have a problem with what others do in regards to editing, etc, more specifically, me. Hey, it's okay because I am going to continue to make edits, suggestions and help where I can. You don't have to like it, nor do you have to read it, but frankly, either or, I really don't give two hoots and a holler.