Changing it up: Color vs B&W for Street Photography

[Disaster_Area]

True, black and white seems to have become the hallmark of "real" photography among non-photographers and I think it's mostly due to us photographers 🙂 90% of all the photo exhibits I've gone to in Ottawa by contemporary photographers have been in black and white, is it any wonder that the layman connects black and white with legitimate photography?

 

[Araakii]

Right. I think the boundary is when you use toning as part of your conceptualization and when you use toning to mask an otherwise mediocre picture.

Like someone said above, B&W is the same thing. A lot of people nowadays convert their color digital photos to B&W because they think that can fix an average color photo.

You are right that manipulation is part of photography to some degree. But it should not be an easy way out to enhance a shot that would otherwise be uninteresting.

So to sum it up, toning is a legit tool if that's part of your creative process. But hopefully you are doing that consciously, rather than trying to enhance your shots because the original files look flat, plain and boring to you at the first place.

@Araakii

Also, how is toning a digital image any different that using different types or brands of film... or even expired film. I've been looking through your Flickr (Which is really quite good btw, I'm really enjoying it) and you often use slide film and expired film which both portray colors different than they appeared in reality. Photographers have been choosing one film over another for a certain job because of how it renders certain colors to add mood or feel to a photo.

These three shots for instance:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34767179@N08/6913702052/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34767179@N08/6397144993/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34767179@N08/6330384860/in/photostream

And this photo, which I love in part due to the manipulation, uses black and white to make the view feel more like it's an old photo of old timey girls, instead of a modern photos of costumes:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34767179@N08/6280079869/in/photostream

Everything we do as photographers is manipulation 🙂

 

[Araakii]

Sometimes I am guilty of the same issue though. It's very hard to avoid because you would want to "save" an average shot. Some of the stuff in my flickr stream suffer the same problem and I acknowledge it. I am trying to refrain from doing it as much as possible though.

@Araakii

Also, how is toning a digital image any different that using different types or brands of film... or even expired film. I've been looking through your Flickr (Which is really quite good btw, I'm really enjoying it) and you often use slide film and expired film which both portray colors different than they appeared in reality. Photographers have been choosing one film over another for a certain job because of how it renders certain colors to add mood or feel to a photo.

These three shots for instance:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34767179@N08/6913702052/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34767179@N08/6397144993/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34767179@N08/6330384860/in/photostream

And this photo, which I love in part due to the manipulation, uses black and white to make the view feel more like it's an old photo of old timey girls, instead of a modern photos of costumes:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34767179@N08/6280079869/in/photostream

Everything we do as photographers is manipulation 🙂

 

[Disaster_Area]

Sometimes I am guilty of the same issue though. It's very hard to avoid because you would want to "save" an average shot. Some of the stuff in my flickr stream suffer the same problem and I acknowledge it. I am trying to refrain from doing it as much as possible though.

Oh I agree 100%, there's definitely shots that as a photographer you love, whether it's due to the subject, or how you felt that day or just the place it was taken, but as a photograph it's just plane mediocre or down right terrible 🙂

I'm definitely trying to use the toning to try and enhance the photo instead of elevating it past a mediocre shot (I hope)

That's one of the big reasons for me posting this thread... I wanted to show the photos in both black and white and color. If someone likes one version but not the other, that will help me decide what treatment works when. If someone likes both, then I know my overall subject matter and composition is working. And if people like neither version at least I know which ones are my mediocre shots that just appeal to me alone.

Overall though, I don't think either black and white or color is necessarily better, right tool for the right job and so forth. Your Flickr stream proves that, you've got stunning photos in both treatments.

 

[umcelinho]

these photos are really beautiful. i for one only shoot colour, and street. so pretty much all my stuff is colour street.

 

[cz23]

Just happened upon this Alex Webb video, which relates to our theme. Very nice color SP.

John

 

[Araakii]

Just happened upon this Alex Webb video, which relates to our theme. Very nice color SP.

John

Except that Alex Webb finds mood on the street. He doesn't create a mood in post-processing after he has captured the moment.