PBase

I am a big fan of black & white images. But when to use B&W effectively I think depends largely on the subject matter and what the photographer is trying to accomplish. Some images naturally lend themselves well to the B&W format, while others might not work as well in monochrome. And some may work well in both mediums.

There are times when I see certain subject matter, and I automatically know that it will end up as a B&W image. But sometimes I will just quickly desaturate an image in Photoshop just to see how it looks.

A good example of a gallery that I knew beforehand would work well in B&W, is the ghost town of Bodie http://www.pbase.com/olybob/bodie_bw. I wanted the images to really bring the viewer back in time and also portray the somewhat spooky nature of the town as it stands. Then a few years later I decided to go back, with the intention of creating a color gallery of Bodie http://www.pbase.com/olybob/bodie__color. I think both formats work well, but B&W seems to suit this subject better and achieves more of the feeling I was looking for.

Two examples, from each gallery gallery:





Although both B&W and color seem to work here, I think it is the B&W image that really brings back feelings of the old wild west.

Bob

http://www.pbase.com/olybob

Express.....

How come people can't just accept that Black and White can be just as expressive as Color. Why does everything have to be an Olympic event?

What a harmonious world we’d have if we could all just unite in black and white


Mexico City Olympics 1968
http://www.life.com/Life/lifebooks/100photos/gallery/7.html

sean_mcr wrote:What a harmonious world we’d have if we could all just unite in black and white

Or even converge at some point.

sean_mcr wrote:What a harmonious world we’d have if we could all just unite in black and white

Hardly. I'll stick with my color. While black and white is interesting, I think too many people think that if it is black and white, it is art. In actuality, it is only taking advantage of the fact the people tend to be attracted to something they don't see all the time. Most people see in color. So, they tend to be attracted to black and white.

I'm not saying that all of black and white is garbage. Like HDR files, a photo that is black and white (or HDR processed) is not necessarily good. Take a look at some of Ansel Adam's work in color. It's pretty darned amazing.