Re: [Leica] b&w, color of the soul

[Donal Philby <donalphilby@earthlink.net>]

Jeff S wrote:
> 
> My interest in black and white, and (reluctant) return to darkroom work were
> due to the fact that suddenly, the technical bits contained in Ansel Adams's
> and Fred Picker's books finally began to make sense, and the notion that
> processing technique and manipulation of tonal values through selective use
> of filters, could be a crucial part of realizing one's previsualized image,
> 
> I don't think the color allows this degree of creative freedom without the
> manipulation appearing obvious, even contrived.

Jeff,
I would suggest that when done properly, you won't see them.  You have
become aware of them when done heavy handedly.

We use things like flash fill.  I shot a simple photo of a kiosk in a
mall for a client last week and used the Nikon flash, typically at minus
1.5 or minus 2.  You cannot see evidence of flash in the photo.  But
compare them with frames where I did not use the flash, big difference
in shadow detail.

In color we can also push and pull.  Most of us push film to get better
speeds, but occasionally I will overexpose and under develop such high
contrast films as Velvia with good results.  

In addition to simple contrast ranges, in color we also work with
shifting colors to achieve the emotional responses of tonal shades in
BW.   I have done portraits, for instance, where I use multiple filters
on the softboxes that warm the face but transition into cooler shades
(maybe 200-300 degress Kelvin) for the body.  It draws the attention to
the face, even with even lighting.  Yet not contrived.  We use an 81B or
C on a cloudy day, and you wouldn't consider it contrived.  

With color, you have so much more to work with, and so much more to go
wrong.  

They are, as you indicated, very different media.  Color is temporal--a
single moment of reality..  BW eternal--a single moment that represents
a history of moments.  

donal
- -- 
Donal Philby
San Diego
http://www.donalphilby.com