I'm struggling with monochrome images. I like a LOT of what I see others produce, but I'm never quite sure when an image would make a good black and white. My two default criteria are either scenes where they are fairly monotone to begin with, or color photos that I took where I thought the colors didn't turn out well due to lighting, etc. The latter not being a very proactive form of creation, but it often salvages an otherwise drab photo. I haven't learned to see in black and white yet. The following are a collection of some of the images I've created in monochrome over the past year. I'd love any feedback, and I'd like to select three to print for my wall. I've looked at my photos so long, I can't decide, and after awhile, none of them feel "special" enough, so I put it to the group for feedback and to help me select. I've found often times when I post a set of images on here, the group often helps me see things in my photos that I didn't see myself. Often times I'm surprised by which photo(s) get the most positive feedback in my sets, usually not the one(s) I expect. I find I tend to place a lot more value on the images I spent a lot of time creating, but often times the impulsive ones turn out to be the crowd favorites. I really appreciate those different perspectives, and it helps me figure out where I'm doing things well and what things to focus in on. I hope to get that same sort of aha moment again Thanks! Zach 1) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311880612/" title="P1240009.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "800" height="600" alt="P1240009.jpg"></a> 2) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311883112/" title="P1180632.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> View attachment 209051 "800" height="600" alt="P1180632.jpg"></a> 3) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311885316/" title="P1180015.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "800" height="600" alt="P1180015.jpg"></a> 4) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311887730/" title="P1150632.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> View attachment 209053 "800" height="600" alt="P1150632.jpg"></a> 5) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311889956/" title="P1160190.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "800" height="600" alt="P1160190.jpg"></a> 6) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311892026/" title="P1160292.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "600" height="800" alt="P1160292.jpg"></a> 7) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311894808/" title="P1150334.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "600" height="800" alt="P1150334.jpg"></a> 8) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311897546/" title="P1130840.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> View attachment 209057 "800" height="534" alt="P1130840.jpg"></a> 9) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311899732/" title="P1070222.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "571" height="800" alt="P1070222.jpg"></a> 10) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311901272/" title="P1070602.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "600" height="800" alt="P1070602.jpg"></a> 11) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311902458/" title="P1070717.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "600" height="800" alt="P1070717.jpg"></a> 12) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7291034540/" title="P1240511.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "600" height="800" alt="P1240511.jpg"></a>
Sorry, I'm not good at explaining WHY I like, but My faves are #2, #4 and #8. If the kids in the photos are special to you, that MIGHT change it. But those are easily my favorites.
For what it's worth I like numbers 4, 7, & 9. Four appeals to me because it is so unusual, the other two just stand out for me.
Well, #4 would be my choice for *my* wall. I also like 9 and 10, followed by 2 and 11. Your connection to any of the people in the photos may change your personal rankings. I wanted to like #3 more, the scene feels like it has a lot of potential but for some reason the composition just doesn't quite work for me.
i would choose #1, #4, and #8 and go with the nature theme. i think those three are very striking and really work well in b/w. great tone, texture, and depth with all three of them.
Instead of likes I'll mention what didn't work for me. I find the light and contrast too harsh for #2 and #6. I find #5 feeling just a bit too much contrast, maybe if the background was a bit softer, I also find that tree on the right competing for my attention.
I appreciate the feedback. I'm not very confident / practiced at processing black and white yet, and my default response is to crank up the contrast. I need to work on that.
I'm brand new here, so pardon me if I'm not doing things quite right. You ask about how to decide if you should convert a photo to black and white. In my opinion, it's all up to you. The massive flexibility of digital media goes to waste if you don't experiment and play. Anything artistic is about what the artist feels should be portrayed. Personally, I tend to take a pretty totalitarian approach to the black and white/colour debate, by simply asking myself if the colour adds anything to the image. If it doesn't, then it's a distraction, and it goes. But it's up to you. I certainly agree with kinlau with regard to number 2, it's just a bit much to me. The highlights are definitely four and eleven to me. Best of luck, B.
I like 2, 4 and 6 (if you know the kid). But, who cares what I like? What I've done when trying to decide "which pic is best" is put them all on my computer screen saver as a slide show and just live with them for a while. Before too long one or two grow tedious, a few are just OK, and one or two stand up to repeated viewings. Those are the ones for the wall.
The ones I would discard and the reason: 10) the wall with the people looking over 11) if they are your children, the marks on the pants may not go down too well in the future 7) Ok, but if they are in the same room straight B&W might be better My favourite is 8, but if they were for the same room I would choose 3 with a theme, rather than a random set.
Thanks everyone for the feedback, it was very helpful, and interesting to get the differing views. I spent a bit more time tweaking and cropping to 11x14 the finalists and sent them off to the printer: Based on the feedback, I decided to go with 3 in the nature category to have some continuity or theme, even though they are considerably different. I went with 2 that were in the list, and one other I liked that I had forgotten. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7316904528/" title="P1240022.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "800" height="628" alt="P1240022.jpg"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311897546/" title="P1130840.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "800" height="628" alt="P1130840.jpg"></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachpierce/7311887730/" title="P1150632.jpg by zach.pierce, on Flickr"> {} "800" height="629" alt="P1150632.jpg"></a>
My favourite is #9 and my least favourite is #2 (for me: not a fan of the composition, too much contrast and looks too desolate/bleak/moon like!). :smile: But I can see others here have it as their favourite - so it's all subjective innit. I also like #4 and #5 but would prefer a tighter crop on #5, getting rid of a bit on the right and the bottom, something like this perhaps? {} I like #11 too but maybe clone out the railing and the person at the top? Edit - oops, I see you replied while I was typing - good choices and having a theme makes a lot of sense too.
I think the three you picked are excellent, especially number 2. This may be the best b and w conversion tutorial I have ever seen. It is almost 30 minutes, but it is 30 minutes well spent if you are working in Lightroom. Little Mule Productions - A Few Thoughts on Black & White Conversion
