This is the primary school I went to. It is now a mixture of old Victorian buildings and very modern new building. During the first world war it was used as a military hospital. Many a happy hour played in this playground. Underneath the tower block is a corner shop that got regular customer from me and my two sisters spending our pocket money on sweets. This is the effect 365 is having, my camera is going most places with me now and I enjoyed poking it through the locked gates last night to try and get a good capture.
I think I like the colour processed one better! Well I think I do - I also like this B&W effect but I'm a sucker for colour.......so the other one wins heheheh
I think B+W suits this better, because the buuilding are old and there is a touch of urban to the scene with the flats at the back. Sorry I never answered your question about B+W. After 2 1/2 years nearly, I managed to accidentally delete a photo for the first time yesterday, and it was the shot where you asked your question! I can't quot eremember exactly what you asked, so feel free to ask again anytime and I will attempt an answer.
@newbank Ah, ok. Interesting question. I could write an essay on this!!
I will start by saying that I have always loved B&W. I started shooting B+W in the early 80s when I bought an old Practika camera off a mate for £5 and developed my own shots in the school darkroom. I guess that the love of B&W never went away despite the many intervening years without a camera.
Now though, I guess there are a few things that appeal.
Firstly, the fact that it can even a shot out so nothing overpowers and unbalances it. Take my shots from Cheddleton Station yesterday. Though the colour was visually more appealing, the red drainpipe really drew the eye away from the rest of the shot.
Secondly that the range of tones and contrast is easier to control in B+W. Take my original New Brighton shot an dthe colour version. For me the colour took away drama by having several colours, whereas the blend of tones in the B+W in my view worked so much better, and the range was much narrower.
So I guess that I think that B&W brings a simplicity to a photograph that colour often cannot. It can also be timeless where colour struggles.
All my reasons are connected in some sense. Whilst I shoot in colour, I try to see the shot in B&W when I take it, knowing how it will deliver, how I will need to process it, how the sky will look, how I will extract the detail. Knowing what I want to do with it helps me create the correct set up with my camera, which would often be the same for a colour shot, but not always.
I think this all rolls into a need for a photographer to have a style. Mine is B+W, and particulalrly landscape/street/Urbex. Sure, I can shoot flowers, portraits, still life and there is lots of this earlier in my project. I just seem to have found a style that suits me, and with very little B+W on 365, it is good to have something different to offer.
I hope that goes some way to answering your question.
For me, B&W does a number things really well. It is a great mood enhancer. This shot for example speaks to me of times past, the empty school yard, the age of the buildings, the feeling of emptiness and your B&W treatment communicates this to me more effectively that it would in color.
B&W is often a good choice in light that is too contrasty for color as a wide range of tonality usually a requirement for a good shot. Lastly, color can be very distracting to your message or story. Although I have not seen the color version of this image, it looks like there in new growth on the tree branches which for me, would conflict with the emotional impact of the shot especially if there are bright colors present.
I really like the way the branches in front frame the rest of it. They seem to make it appear more distant in space as well as in time (at least for you, as you went to school there years ago). I think b&w works very well here.
Very nicely composed. This version is much more appropriate for the subject than the colour version, which smacks of wacky processing for the sake of it. (But maybe that's what you saw when you pressed the shutter?)
@yrhenwr No, it wasn't what I saw. New to photography and processing. I feel I am playing around with my images. Pushing the contrasts, saturations, exposures etc... I am fairly sure though at some point I will calm down and the lure of creating well composed images, with stories to tell in the timelessness of b and w photography will be where my photographic heart finds contentment. Thank you for taking time to look and comment.
April 13th, 2014
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I will start by saying that I have always loved B&W. I started shooting B+W in the early 80s when I bought an old Practika camera off a mate for £5 and developed my own shots in the school darkroom. I guess that the love of B&W never went away despite the many intervening years without a camera.
Now though, I guess there are a few things that appeal.
Firstly, the fact that it can even a shot out so nothing overpowers and unbalances it. Take my shots from Cheddleton Station yesterday. Though the colour was visually more appealing, the red drainpipe really drew the eye away from the rest of the shot.
Secondly that the range of tones and contrast is easier to control in B+W. Take my original New Brighton shot an dthe colour version. For me the colour took away drama by having several colours, whereas the blend of tones in the B+W in my view worked so much better, and the range was much narrower.
So I guess that I think that B&W brings a simplicity to a photograph that colour often cannot. It can also be timeless where colour struggles.
All my reasons are connected in some sense. Whilst I shoot in colour, I try to see the shot in B&W when I take it, knowing how it will deliver, how I will need to process it, how the sky will look, how I will extract the detail. Knowing what I want to do with it helps me create the correct set up with my camera, which would often be the same for a colour shot, but not always.
I think this all rolls into a need for a photographer to have a style. Mine is B+W, and particulalrly landscape/street/Urbex. Sure, I can shoot flowers, portraits, still life and there is lots of this earlier in my project. I just seem to have found a style that suits me, and with very little B+W on 365, it is good to have something different to offer.
I hope that goes some way to answering your question.
B&W is often a good choice in light that is too contrasty for color as a wide range of tonality usually a requirement for a good shot. Lastly, color can be very distracting to your message or story. Although I have not seen the color version of this image, it looks like there in new growth on the tree branches which for me, would conflict with the emotional impact of the shot especially if there are bright colors present.