Colour, or B+W

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Years ago, I carried a couple of bodies, several lens, and that was all heavy gear. I had Tri-x in one F body, and K25 or 64 in my other F. Now, I am no longer a slave to my gear. I only carry a M6, with a 35/2, 50lux and 90T/E. A lot of my work is done in China, so I often ask myself which do I want, the colour & excitement of the situation, or the drama and sulkiness of B+W.

I would like to know what is the determining factor that makes your decision on colour or B+W. And yes, I know there is an easy way out of this, spring for another body! But there is still the question, what makes your mind decide to go to B+W. What are you looking for? Thanks for that. P Nelson

-- Paul Nelson (clrfarm@comswest.net.au), May 09, 2001

Answers

Drop an Epic into your pocket with 400 color negative film, and continue to use the Leica for B&W.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), May 09, 2001.

I choose black and white for almost all of my indoor shots (primarily of people) - because I think it not only looks "better" but also because I haven't found any color film above 100 speed that I like (thus I almost exclusivly use 400 or 3200 speed B&W film). It is also very nice to not have to worry about a magenta or green color cast from indoor lights. I use color slide film (I like Provia 100F) for outdoor shooting during the day time - this is what I load in my Ricoh GR1 (which goes everywhere with me). If the roll will be used both outside and indoors I tend to choose whichever type of film I have more/older rolls of.

-- Matthew Geddert (geddert@yahoo.com), May 09, 2001.

I tend to work on PROJECTS as opposed to individual pictures - and when I start I make the choice that a given project will be B&W or color (Small-town car racing at night - B&W; City of Denver coffee table book - color). Sometime I choose B&W for technical reasons (exceeding poor light) and sometime I see it as just an extension of color photography (just a VERY limited color palette!!) - a way of interpreting the subject, like lens choice or film size.

I have a digital darkroom, and one of its magic elements is that I can scan a color slide original and make EITHER B&W or color prints - in fact some of my nicest B&W work from the past 8 years started as color transparencies (and yes, some of it is dramatic and/or sulky. e.g. memorials for the 13 people killed at Columbine High School, anti/pro gun demonstrations,etc.)

I actually prefer B&W from 50-speed slide film if there's enough light. Velvia has much finer grain than any B&W negative film I've seen, and amazing highlight detail (at least with Leica lenses). Plus I can shoot at larger apertures in sunlight and get beautiful sharp/ soft bokeh pictures.

Ever since I discovered this interchangeability, I have basically chosen B&W film only if I KNOW I'll have no need for color, and I need really fast turn-around on weekends when the color lab is closed but my bathroom lab is open, or if I need extra high speed for very low light. Otherwise I default to color slide because I know it will work either way.

If you don't have your own scanner or a nearby digital lab, or if you just love doing your own chemical B&W processing I guess my technique won't help. I'd still shoot color as default, though, because EVENTUALLY you will have some method of getting B&W out of your color pictures, and there will never be a way to add realistic color to a B& W original (Ted Turner and his digitized movies notwithstanding).

As to your final question, I now often choose B&W after the fact, because I want that dramatic sulky look, or because the color and content of a picture don't mesh, or sometimes just because a picture isn't especially colorful and makes more sense as a straight B&W picture; essentially the same choices you would make on the fly with two camera bodies, but made in the peace and quiet of my study while looking at both versions on a computer monitor.

(Sorry about the yankee spelling of "color".)

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), May 09, 2001.


Or drop a Contax T3 loaded with B&W film into that more roomy pocket (it will have fewer dollar bills in it than if you had bought a Stylus Epic). A 35mm lens that has gotten rave reviews as ranking amongst the sharpest ever, and a dead quiet mechanism. The camera seems unusually well designed for manual operation, not just by P&S standards. The $650 price tag and the f2.8 (not f2) lens are the flies in the ointment.

Use it for your indoors shots. 35mm, small, quiet, unobtrusive.

Just a thought...

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), May 09, 2001.


Always B+W. Colorblindness, unfortunately.

-- Jim Shields (jim.shields@tasis.ch), May 10, 2001.


My feeling rather accords with Andy's. When I use my Hasselblad with a color and a black and white back my ratio is 3 color shots to 1 black and white. In this situation if the color is a vital part of the photograph (and it is often is), then color it is. Likewise if the essential part of the image is monochrome or has a limited set of colors or the force of the composition is such then I shoot black and white. I like both black and white and color portraits and I like them both equally - but non-photographers I find almost uniformly expect to see color, and black and white can look "weird" to them. So unless I have a specific reason to take black and white - I agree that available light shots could be one of them, I take color slide. Certainly it is reasonably easy to make a black and white print from color, but impossible the other way.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), May 10, 2001.

I'd like to hark back to the original question, which, as I read it, asks pointedly "what make you, the photographer, opt for color or BW?"

In my view, it would depend on the nature of the project, whether it is an assigned one(leaving limited choice) or a personal one. If the latter, you, the photographer has to decide on your current feelings or state of mind concerning the project. But why limit oneself to one or the other medium? It is a fairly easy proposition to change film in mid-roll, mark it, replace it with another choice and continue to shoot with a different perspective. That, IMO, would be even more revealing of the different facets of the subject matter.

-- Jean-David Borges (jdborges@home.com), May 10, 2001.


When I go on a trip, I can never seem to decide on just one film, so I end up schlepping two bodies. Thank goodness they're both M bodies and don't weigh much or take up much room!

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), May 11, 2001.

Thanks Mates!

what I got from all that is not so much about how the choice was made to use either B&W or colour, but rather just to drag along two bodies, which is as I said above, the simple solution, providing you have a good idea in the first place. cheers, Paul Nelson

-- Paul Nelson (clrfarm@comswest.net.au), May 11, 2001.


I rarely shoot color and b&w in the same session. Which one I'm shooting depends on my mood more than anything else, and what I'm "seeing" on a given day. I almost never carry more than one camera at a time anymore (except for the fact that there is *always* a Minox in my pocket...).

One body, two lenses, and a selection of b&w or color neg film is always how I leave the house with the Leicas. I make the decision when I see what the light and my eyes are telling me.

Godfrey

-- Godfrey DiGiorgi (ramarren@bayarea.net), May 15, 2001.



My two viewfinders, an M3 and a Hexar Classic, are loaded exclusively with B&W films. The Leica with negative, either Delta 400 or T400 CN, and the Hexar with Agfa Scala. Since I am mainly a slide shooter the Hexar is always in my pocket and the Leica is used occasionally.

Why B&W as an everyday medium? I do seldom landscapes and the city I live in has limited colour potential. In my spare time and on the way to work I look at people's faces and click away. And I personally prefer people photography in B&W.

For B&W portraits of friends/relatives I use the Leica with 50 and 90 lenses and negative film.

Strangely enough, I do a lot more colour (with my SLRs) than B&W with viewfinders.

-- George (gdgianni@aol.com), May 15, 2001.


I am fortunate to have 2 M bodies: One for chromes (Velvia) and the other for 400 ISO B&W. There are situations where the light is not jsut right for the color film but there are intersting shadows and lines which can be exploited by using B&W film. Converting color images to B&W images using Photoshop works but seems to lack a certain quality. I wish there was a simple answer. And oh yes, with 2 bodies, I always have a back-up. Don

-- Don M (maldos@home.com), May 15, 2001.

Colour or B+W?

No contest - colour always, for all work, for all subjects. No exceptions! ;?)

-- Andrew Nemeth (azn@nemeng.com), May 22, 2001.


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