scaffolding in b/w

[turlough]

This is the first time I've conciously thought about what something would look like in b/w while I was taking the pictures. Interesting experience.





Nikon Coolpix 775, auto, macro

PS Is it "cheating" to use a b/w gradient map in Photoshop to transform a colour photo into b/w instead of just using the turn-into-grayscale function? It feels like cheating but the result is so much better I still do it.

Comments

[holyoutlaw]

There are probably a couple dozen ways to get a color photo to B&W in Photoshop, whichever way gets results you prefer. I've seen the gradient method in a Scott Kelby book, so you're good to go.

[turlough]

I think it's something that lingers from the days when if you wanted b/w photos you went and bought yourself a b/w film. Changing the colouring afterwards just feel wrong somehow.

[sasha_feather]

There is something really captivating about that scaffolding shot.

[turlough]

Yeah, I like how much longer that side of the house looks in the photo compared to how long it really is.

[darkemeralds]

It's only cheating if you believe there is some magical rule about not doing it, I guess. These results are beautiful. I frequently post-process my pictures, for this comm and elsewhere, to bring out some element, or liven them up. Where does one draw the line? I virtually always straighten my horizons (because apparently I see crookedly or something and can't take a level picture to save my life). I crop. I push contrast and brightness a lot of the time because the world I live in is often bereft of direct sunlight.

I correct color because my camera sees blues and purples very differently than my eyes do.

Then there's the sheer art of just messing with the potential in a photo: solarizing it down to its structural essence, shoving the saturation way up just for fun.

I have an inexpensive point and shoot camera that doesn't do within its little box body all the things I wish it could. So I do those things outside its body.

Heh. Long answer! Anyway, isn't it interesting how beautiful things which are inherently rather ugly can become in black and white? Both the scaffolding and the rotted timbers are wonderful.

[turlough]

I think my reluctance to use any serious sort of post-processing is because for most of my life that was something only professionals or really dedicated amateurs with their own labs had the possibility of doing. Even after using digital cameras for several years I still feel a bit like I'm cheating if I ever do anything more than the simplest correction of light and contrast.

I know it's silly of me and I try to be a little more adventurous now and then, but it still feels a bit naughty whenever I do it :-)

And yes, it's quite amazing how dramatic and art-y something can look in b/w when in a colour photo it would just looked drab and uninteresting.

[rikes]

These are both fantastic! I love the lines the buildings and scaffoldings make in the first one, and it's pretty cool to have a picture taken from closer to the "ceiling" than the "floor" for a change, if that makes sense. :)

[turlough]

As I just said above, it's amazing how dramatic and art-y something can look in b/w when in colour it would just look drab and uninteresting. I angled the camera in several directions and the "ceiling" photos consistently turned out more interesting than the "floor" ones.