What Looks Better in B&W?

What subjects in your opinion seem to lend themselves to black & white?

When I talk here about B+W I'm talking about traditional B+W film with optical prints. I don't know the other ways and I suspect that traditional B+W offers more tonal value than the other methods.

 

People look better in B+W because there is no mismatch of colour possible, and the tonal range of B+W captures the skin wonderfully.

For example, a friend showed me a photo she made of her disabled daughter where the skin tones were rendered like marble with the use of Kodak technical pan.

 

Flowers look better in B+W sometimes, becuase the delicacy and form is easier to see and percieve without the saturation of colour. The best flower photos I've seen were 10x8 platinum palladium contact prints.

 

Violins etc look better in B+W because there is no colour mismatch possible, the lines and shapes are stronger and easier to see.

 

I prefer to see street photography in B+W because there is so much going on that with colour it would be very difficult to sompose such a scene. I do like colour street though.

 

The Human nude lens itself to B+W because the tonal scale of film and the form of the figure work so well together. Sometimes less is more.

 

Of course everything also looks fantastic in colour, but the absence of colour has a feel which helps sometimes, sometimes not. That really depends on the viewer but it seems some subject do lend themselves to B+W. I respect digital capture but as yet have no experience with it, other than basic point and shoot.

 

Cheers.

Interesting question. I'll dig through some negatives for examples of this, but IMHO dark skin in a dark environment makes for marvelous tonalities. Human skin has the same sheen regardless of the tint of the skin, and very dark skin in dark circumstances emphasizes the sheen, showing contours, shape, form, light.

Robin, there's no quick and easy answer to this because the choice between color and B&W is basically a personal one. I can only tell you what I look for in a scene that tells me it needs B&W:

 

Patterns and texture

 

Lack of a wide color gamut

 

Color detracts from what I see as the real image, the real story

 

Drama!

 

 

 

I shoot film, primarily TMax 100 for B&W, and do my own processing, and my subjects are usually things that don't move or talk back. Unlike Ben, the rest of my darkroom process is all digital but I've been very happy with the results.

 

I also shoot color film, usually Portra 160VC, and occasionally I'll find that when I scan the image into Photoshop, I've screwed up - should have shot B&W instead! Fortunately, Photoshop (and some of the third party plugins) have excellent tools for converting color to B&W, and I use them shamelessly. The shot I've attached is an example of that "Oh, s**t" and conversion process.

 

The point is that the decision making process is not set in concrete at the instant you click the shutter, but I still think the results are better with B*W film.

 

About digital: Best thing to do is shoot in color, convert in Photoshop. Forget the in-camera B&W option.....<div></div>

Black and white is, by its nature, an abstraction, so subjects where elements of design are important tend to work better in black and white. I have always found color somewhat distracting when it is either not the subject or does not support the subject of the photograph. Color can be used to enhance the subject by drawing the eye, placing emphasis, or by enhancing details, but when it comes to abstraction, unless the color itself is the abstraction, black and white is hard to beat.

 

- Randy

To me its more what lends itself to color, as I prefer black and white or duotone as a medium in general. Flowers, insects, sunrise/sunset lighting, firefighters, grass, cuddly mammals, that sort of thing in my view fit color. But my personal approach is that unless the photograph strongly benefits from color, I don't use it. I shoot velvia and scan or shoot digital nefs, then convert to black and white so I have channels to work with.

"What subjects in your opinion seem to lend themselves to black & white?"

 

It's not a matter of subjects as it's a matter of "seeing" in B&W. If you don't see in B&W then you won't have seperation as everything will become Zone 5 gray. One needs pure whites and pure blacks to give extremes and pop. No pure blacks or whites and you now have compression of the shades of gray in the middle cause you've lost the ends.

 

Color is the same way in that one needs seperation or it just becomes a jumble with no definition to the eye. Nature is very unforgiving in it's propensity to hit the middle ground.

In my little niche of the hobby (railroad photography), steam trains sure look good in black/white, even if they are shot in present times...

<<What subjects in your opinion seem to lend themselves to black & white?>>

 

All of them.

I agree with Rob Bernhard in that all subjects lend themselves to BW in one way or another. However I will say that animals/wildlife would seem to be a poor subject, or at least more difficult to render clearly - with the exception of the work of Nick Brandt.

Shoot Astia on overcast days and who needs B&W ?

the same subjects that lend themselves to photography

Turning it around, I'd say that the best use for color in the abstraction we call photography is when it can add something to the picture that can't be expressed in B&W. This may be because I shot and processed B&W for six decades and saw potential photographs only in terms of gray scale. I still shoot only film, usually color, and with digital printing enjoy the latitude of deciding which looks best after the image has been secured.

 

With the latest techniques, equipment and materials, digital B&W prints are superb and the control that can be exercised in printing is so much greater than it ever was that the decision to use color is no longer a matter of equipment and facilities, but simply which looks better for the subject. I agree that portraits and architecturals are especially good in B&W because the color is often a distraction from the essence of the picture. Sunsets are a different matter. Sunrises, too.

<i>Mission Santa Maria de Acoma</i><p>An observation:<br>I like the image <b>very much</b>. But it is <i>not</i> true B&W, though it lacks color.

Q:"What subjects in your opinion seem to lend themselves to black & white?"

 

A: Colour.

(great question)

 

To my eye "composition" is most noticed or betrayed when previously color is seen in B+W.

New (film) photo initiates first attempts at composition are best in B&W. Color, while being truthful in catching the subject matter, is a distraction for those learning the "basics". Film photography is one art form which, in the beginning, has the benefit of the monochrome point of view !

To me, trees and old wooden buildings always look better in B & W. People take on an ethereal glow to their skin in B&W and B&W shows us who are willing to see them, the abstract qualities of plants and flowers.

Sports photography. Boxing is the best. The color stuff doesn't compare to the old B&W speed graphic photos.

I am quite a sight when seen out taking pictures. I have a collection of old Canon A and F series SLRs I have aquired over the years and I love them all. I can never make up my mind which camera to shoot so I shoot them all. Here is the real problem, I also like shooting all kinds of film and try to match the film to the shot. I shoot T MAx 100 if I want fine grain and lots of detail. I shoot Neopan 400 or T max 400 through an other camera around my neck if I want faster shutter speeds for action and think grain would add to the image. Also, around my neck is a camera loaded with 3200 T Max for indoor - non flash stuff and old stuff or interesting people I want to grain up a bunch. Also there is two more camera lurking nearby with Reala 100 in one and Velvia 50 in another. It is a burden for sure but it's how I do things.

 

I have never seen Digital B&W images that appeal to me as they are just too smooth for my tastes, hence my continued use of film.

 

I think most shot opertunities can be nice in B&W and many of them are better in B&W. I agree with the others in that B&W is best for people shots. Most scenes can go either way depending on your mood, the weather and phase of the moon and crude oil future tendencies. MAcro can be wonderful in B&W as can wildlife. My personal favorite wildlife film for in Yellowstone N. P. (2 hrs away from my home) is 3200 T Max, then I print in sepia if I feel like it.

 

Anyway, sorry for the ramble. There are many B&W films out there so try them all and have fun.

 

Dave

everything , digital or not is the same

Hi all, My family has a fairly ruddy complexion. I have come to the generally biased conclusion that white people's skin / faces are far better in black and white. No contest. Stan