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Chuck, in an attempt to distract me from photographing any more underwear, has asked about how I decide whether to make an image colour or black and white.
Sometimes subtle tonal gradations call out for black and white and quite early I'll convert the image and see how it works. Other times, the colours clearly don't work together and the only hope for the image is in black and white - whether I realized that at the time of shooting or not.
I have to say that I'm glad we don't have to choose at the time of shooting, more than once I have planned wrongly - subtle colours were worth preserving when I thought the image only suitable for black and white, or the reverse.
Sometimes I'm well into the process of editing the image before I decide I'd like to look at it in black and white.
So: here's the list of decisions
1) if the image is part of a series, then I continue with colour or black and white as was started.
2) if the subject matter (as opposed to the colours) strongly suggests one medium over the other, then...
3) Sometimes I know which i want when I aim the camera.
4) Often but not always I will try the image both ways and see which works better, and
5) Occasionally I can't make up my mind and I keep the image both ways.
5 comments:
George,
This is one image thatdefinitely looks better tome in color. Much better.
That is not always the case for me but here I really like the color image a lot. The B&W does not do a lot for me.
I agree with Bill for this one. The tones of everything else but the sky look too close to me so I find I don't want to explore the image that much in black and white. In color, however, there is lots to explore and it really draws me in.
What can I say, I prefer the B&W.
I'm tossing in another vote for the grayscale version. I do agree that the color image looks stronger when comparing the smaller files on the front of the blog, but when the larger copies are compared, the grayscale file is, IMHO, much stronger.
I think the color image, while having great foreground color, lacks in color and tones for the more distant objects, which is a bit distracting for me.
I think that, because of the intricate detail, this is one of those images that needs to be experienced big to be fully appreciated.
I like the color version on this much better because there is more interest and separation throughout the image. The B&W version has a lot of middle tone grey throughout the foreground and mid-ground of the shot - and I think it loses something there.
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