My First Black and White

[Coastal Flyer]

I owe this to Seb. You have given me reason to look at b/w in a different way. Comments are encouraged.

Thanks,

CF

[GB1]

A decent choice for B&W. I do miss the greens that would have shown here but the B&W makes me focus more on the statue. Somehow though the background seems sharper than the statue - maybe it's because the statue's reflections soften it a little. I would also crop out a little of the left side to get the statue at a 1/3rd inflection point (might be a little too centered as is).

[Devin MacShawn]

Nice Job. The highlights make the shot for me. I would like more of a blur on the background though. Not anything extreme though. Just ever so slightly.

If it is possible, I'd love to see a close up of his feet and hand/forearem. There's a lot of character in that area. Don't try to crop 'cause that would be cheating.

[Coastal Flyer]

Devin:

Thanks for the comments. I appreciate it. I need your help however; if there is a technique for isolating a portion of a photo (hands/feet in this instance) without cropping I don't know how to do that. Any pointers would be great.

Thanks again.

CF

[Devin MacShawn]

:lol:

I'm sorry, I should have been more clear on that! What I was getting at was to just go shoot it again. ; - D But that's if you have time or if the location is close enough. The reason why I said not to crop it is because I'm 100% sure you could get a better angle, and a better photo if shot again.

The feet really stand out to me because you never see a statue with a hand so close to the feet like that. I think it would make a pretty cool still.

[Coastal Flyer]

Ah...ok. Thought I was losing it! The University is relatively close and have had the same thought-go shoot it again at a different time of day.

Thanks again.

CF

[Seb]

I owe this to Seb. You have given me reason to look at b/w in a different way. Comments are encouraged.

Thanks,

CF

CF, first of all, thanks a lot (a whole lot!!) for your comment. I almost feel embarassed.

I think that the tones you have produced here are excellent. Also, I really like the sort of glow arround the statue. I think that your composition is good. The only issue here for me is the fact that the background appears to be sharper than the statue as GB said. It looks like the dof is a bit faulty.

Seb

[Coastal Flyer]

Seb,

Thanks for the comments and tip. No need to feel embarassed, you do great work.

CF

[Michael Campbell]

I like the form of the sculpture but it seems to blend into the background where I would like to see its form more clearly. Don't feel you must be literal. When you convert color to black and white look a all the channels. Use multiple layers and to convert the Channel Mixer, you may find one part of the image is best expressed with the green channel while another part has most interest in the red or blue channel. Black and white is an abstraction of reality and so can sometimes be used for the purpose of self expression more subtly than color.

Try if you will to let an image mirror an emotion of a concept in the form of a visual metaphor. As Minor White expressed it 'When a photograph is a mirror of the man and the man is a mirror of the world, spirit might take over'. When the late Arnold Gassan (one of White's more perceptive students and another fine photographer and teacher) quoted his words in his fine 'Handbook for Contemporary Photography', he went on the add White's rider 'It follows that 'self-expression' as the aim of the photographer is not in itself sufficient.'

Stieglits introduced the concept of the equivalent in his famous cloud series. The idea of the 'Equivalent' goes beyond simple connotation or symbolism and it is not a simple matter of a relation to the subject matter. It is a function that operates at two different times and places - when the picture is made and when it is viewed. The making of the picture involves the photographer and the subject, and carries on in the craft processes involved in developing the negative and in the physical production of the print. But the viewer of the print also has an active role in the process if equivalence is to work.

When Stieglitz photographed clouds, he was certainly not interested in meteorology. The form of the clouds - their shape and gradation - was certainly important, but not in the simple sense that one might see faces or shapes in them, such as a brooding eagle or vulture. Such shapes might have their place, along with their tonal values, in arousing certain specific mental states or feelings in the photographer which it would then be necessary to try and capture by suitable framing and transformation through film, development and printing to the print.

The final stage in the process involves the viewer looking at the print and feeling the same way, experiencing the same emotions as the photographer. The photographer's aim is not simply 'self-expression', but to analyse what they are feeling and use the expressive controls of the medium to convey these feelings to the viewer. 'Self-expression' is of course usually an excuse for a lack of both analysis and control."

To illustrate how a simple object may act as an equivalent I went into the canyon and took a snap of a fallen tree,( see below before and after conversion ) I then played with the forms and made an inverted copy on a new layer and changed the mode , exagerated and simplified tones. In fact I generally messed about with the poor tree so much it is not longer tree-like but has metamorphosed under the pressure of Wacom stylus and Photoshop CS become a new form that did not exist before. The emotional content is not easily verbalized and perhaps is rooted deep in some non-verbal blob of my cerebellum or medulla oblongata. The final print may have no effect on the viewer, especially at the size shown here of a few pixels wide, but I might print it to maybe 18 inches on Photo Rag watercolor paper and then some of the more subtle textures may be more available. Sorry enough of my rabbiting on. It's the heat you know make me waffle inconsequentially.

[Coastal Flyer]

Michael,

Wow, what a reply. I haven't generated that much comment on one of my photos before. Thanks for taking the time to provide such detail. I really appreciate it.

CF

[Michael Campbell]

Michael,

Wow, what a reply. I haven't generated that much comment on one of my photos before. Thanks for taking the time to provide such detail. I really appreciate it.

CF

Anyone who likes Black and White gets my attention !
It brought me to California from London . I came to stay with Paul Caponigro in New Mexico and then while I was there Ansel Adms called and told Paul 'send him over' I spent 4 days with Ansel in Carmel...
One of my heros is George Hurrell here is a Black and White portrait in his style.
The second one is a warm toned version more like Selenium toned chloro bromide print. Ah the days of Agfa Portriga Rapid how I miss them... Number three show the original camera capture before converting to black and white... hope that is of some help.. and just for fun my homage to Marilyn (Actually the model was called Merilee Brasch from Orange County )

[Coastal Flyer]

Michael,

My goodness, these are stunning, superb portraits. I wish I could achieve texture such as this. Truly impressive.

Thanks again.

CF

[Alison]

I love your B&W CF but I think it actually looks better in the colour version you posted. I feel the bg is too mid grey to make the statue stand out.
Maybe if you burned the bg a little darker it might help.

As for Michael's posts. Yes incredibly stunning! These are the sort of images my 14 year old daughter wants done. And Michael..."Beginner?"...yeah right! Pull the other one!

[Michael Campbell]

I am too old to say I am a beginner but never too old to try to learn something. Ansel said to me in 1979 in his house in Carmel."I don't care what you do in photography, just try to go beyond where I have gone. "
I am always trying to find a new way. I am excited to see other here are open minded and want to do the same. Here is an idea ... take the color out of an image and then put it back into one element such as a flower.
I took this snap of a friend's daughter (14 ) in a jungle in Mexico an hour's boat ride from the nearest road.

No fancy reflectors or fill lights just a camera and natural beauty.

[Seb]

I am too old to say I am a beginner but never too old to try to learn something. Ansel said to me in 1979 in his house in Carmel."I don't care what you do in photography, just try to go beyond where I have gone. "
I am always trying to find a new way. I am excited to see other here are open minded and want to do the same. Here is an idea ... take the color out of an image and then put it back into one element such as a flower.
I took this snap of a friend's daughter (14 ) in a jungle in Mexico an hour's boat ride from the nearest road.

No fancy reflectors or fill lights just a camera and natural beauty.

Michael, that's a work of art. The lighting is fantastic, so is her pose.

Seb

[Coastal Flyer]

I understand the pose and the framing, the beauty of the subject, but the technique to produce a photo of this quality is beyond my experience. I can only marvel and appreciate but could never duplicate.

Stunning.

CF