Portrait in B&W or color ?

[carsten_ranke]

What would you prefer for this portrait, color or B&W ? My first

emotional decision was B&W, but some of my family said that color is

more lively.

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/1998751

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/2005569

 

Some portrait photographers shoot B&W all the time. Are we all

satiated with color portraits and should we choose B&W to concentrate

on composition and expression ?

[sammm]

I like the black & white. Really brings out her eyes; leaves the rest of her nicely soft. While the tones of the color are nice, I don't think the eyes are as striking as with B&W.

[christopher_bibbs]

My personal opinion that the choice of color vs. B&W is more a question of intent. Because of her skin tone and hair, I'd say the color image strikes me as looking more youthful. The lightness of her hair does tend to draw my vision away from her eyes more in the color. The B&W also is better has slightly better separation from the background.

 

If this were a relative and I was going to put the print on my desk at work, definately the color. If I were trying to get the audience to connect with her, B&W.

[bokeh man]

Well the truth is there isn't a black and white image only a de-chromised colour one. Colour images need to be lower contrast than b&w or colour saturation is lost. Images like this remind me why I like my wet darkroom so much for black and white. If you want black and white use b&w film. The colour image is far superior.

[jkantor]

B/W printing - whether traditional or digital - is an art form in itself. Here's a version (converted with the channel mixer from the color one) with some levels adjustment, but I don't know how it will look on your monitor. You could also do a lot more with curves, dodging and burning, etc.

 

But it all ties together. The final version will only be as good as the lighting and makeup - both of which should be different for color and b/w.

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/2007596&size=lg

[carsten_ranke]

Helpful comments, no flaming... Christopher, you hit the nail on the head. Because she is my daughter, I´m torn between family view and photographic criteria. 20 years ago I had a wet darkroom, shot mostly Ilford FP4 / HP4 (Olympus SP range-finder, Canon AE-1, Nikon FE2), and was quite happy. Unfortunately, sold my darkroom equipment because of study, career, family etc. Digital imaging reactivated my interest on photography (Canon G1, now 300D), but I have to learn a lot for my "digital darkroom" (PS7). Because portrait was no fun with the Canon G1, I will shoot portrait now with my new 300D/ 50 mm f:1.8, preferably B&W.

John´s image looks better than mine to me on my monitor. So, where can I learn more about B&W digital processing, especially Photoshop ? I know the basics about color postprocessing in PS7, but B&W processing seems to be different.

 

Carsten

[jkantor]

The goals are the same with traditional and digital printing - only the tools change - so first you need to have a good understanding of just what good printing can do to a base image.

 

As for how you use Photoshop to do that, experimentation is the best teacher. Converting using the Channel Mixer is the first step (though awkwardly implemented). (iCorrect Editlab has a great tool for selecting individual hues that is even more powerful.) Then Levels adjustment - and finally dodging and burning. However, I never use the Dodge and Burn tools. Instead I use the Lasso tool to mark out areas, feather the selection and then adjust using Curves.

 

Make sure you do everything on layers so you can modify your changes.

[jkantor]

Here's a before and after shot:

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/245678&size=lg

[josh_thornton]

The color photo brings more attention to the entire photograph...feelings of warmth, youth, fun, etc. The black and white photograph really draws you to her eyes and casts a much more serious tone. I typically prefer black and white photographs but prefer the color photograph in this case.

[brandonhamilton]

I think the color image is superior also. I think if the B&W conversion would of been done better, the image would be better. It is missing some contrast and other stuff which could make this B&W stand out more.

[yance_marti]

I think Bokeh Man has hit the crux of the problem. Black and white needs a different approach than pictures taken with a color eye. To really make it work, the lighting needs to be changed. "De-chromizing" the image doesn't usually give a good b&w picture. The contrast and tonalities need to be adjusted and even then it might be less than ideal. Try to see in black and white when taking the picture and you will get a better result.

 

So in this case I like the color image.

[twmeyer]

I think this "gotta be b&w film" is bunk. Tell me how, with black and white film, I can selectively use a blue, red or green filter on any area of a black and white image that I chose? I can use these on a color image in photoshop instead of making three different negatives of the same static scene (forget a portrait) each with only one density/color of filtration. <p>I agree that making a decision after the fact is usually inferior to being deliberate, but I don't feel that's a dictum that should be presented as intrinsically superior. Serendipity is not a phenomina to be lightly dismissed, nor is Tri-x with a 25a or my old favorite, Type 665 Polaroid.<p>The monochromatic image is by it's very nature abstract which makes it easier to consider metaphorically. If your image is about the physical characteristics of a subject, use color. If you want an image that inspires thinking about intangibles, try monochrome... t<div></div>

[mccrackenphotography]

I think the BW captures the father/son moment. The joy of the boy and father show by the light of their skin. The hands show the difference in age.

 

The color version doesn't focus me on these things.

 

It's still a fantastic shot either way.