Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/05/30

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Subject: [Leica] B&W OR COLOUR?
From: philippe.orlent at pandora.be (Philippe Orlent)
Date: Wed May 30 13:42:26 2007
References: <0JIV00EOB5Y6Y310@l-daemon>

Ted,

It is a very good portrait. Plenty of attitude and also background  
info without getting too obtrusive. And ofcourse the light eyes  
action is right, too. And it was probably done the KISS way.
It's pretty logical that this portrait so good, since you made it.
And you are a damn good photographer.
But color or B&W?
Very hard to say ATM.
The color would get better if you'd take the blue out of the lightest  
part of his face and left sided hand. It looks like a natural light  
shot, but the blue (probably some reflection) works a bit against this.
The man is too old for this kind of skin tone and it makes him look a  
bit dead.
It's hard to compare with the B&W, since that one is very harshly  
translated. A lot more of tonal gradations and detail are possible.
But in the end, if all this would be perfect, I'd still go for the  
color version.
Which you always should do if the color scheme works out.
Only 3 reasons to shoot B&W: because the color scheme isn't right,  
because you want to emphasize on the moment itself, or because you  
want to give a journalistic touch of truth to the image.
Of which neither apply to your perfectly crafted portrait.
So...

Sometimes a KISS image is not so KISS.
Just IMO ofcourse.
Thanks for showing,
Philippe





Op 30-mei-07, om 19:01 heeft Ted Grant het volgende geschreven:

> Hi Crew,
> Here's your chance to shoot at me! ;-)
>
> Which version is the better? B&W or COLOUR?
> Or the stronger of the photographs?
>
>  http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/tmax/%232+WCG+col__MG_4332.jpg.html
>
>  http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/tmax/B_amp_W+WCG_MG_4332.jpg.html
>
>  ted
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>


In reply to: Message from tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant) ([Leica] B&W OR COLOUR?)