Yes, that's very interesting, for all the b&w I shoot I never thought of that scene in b&w. I don't think I like one better than the other, they each have a subtle feel of their own. Course, always hard to tell on your own shot. Especially this one, it's poignancy is that's it's gone, that time is past and I knew it would be when I shot it. My niece is older now, things have happened - I gave a nice print of this to her a couple of years ago. And there was the sadness of a remembered joy when she saw it. I usually call it "Skipping Away", in both senses of "away". Thanks .
Yes, that's very interesting, for all the b&w I shoot I never thought of that scene in b&w. I don't think I like one better than the other, they each have a subtle feel of their own. Course, always hard to tell on your own shot. Especially this one, it's poignancy is that's it's gone, that time is past and I knew it would be when I shot it. My niece is older now, things have happened - I gave a nice print of this to her a couple of years ago. And there was the sadness of a remembered joy when she saw it. I usually call it "Skipping Away", in both senses of "away". Thanks .
In black and white, this is very reminiscent of one of the most famous photographic images of all time - Eugene Smith's "Walk to Paradise Garden". Smith was severely injured during his stint as a WWII combat photographer. He was unable to even pick up a camera for some time after the war. And when he finally did, the shot above of his kids was the first image he made.
Glad Mr. Smith nailed the exposure on that first try. It wouldn't have made for nearly as compelling of a story if he hadn't.
I love the shot, both in BW and color. My recommendation would be to take the BW and paint the color back in a very low saturation of everything outside the tunnel. I'm no fan of selective color in the traditional sense, but I think you could get away with the walls of the tunnel being black and white. It would bring more attention to the garden/subjects, and I believe would give it that illustrated children's book feel.
paint the color back in a very low saturation of everything outside the tunnel. I'm no fan of selective color in the traditional sense,
I don't know how to do that kind of "painting" technique, though I thought of that look once, but I'll experiment around, the story-book image is a great one, thanks.
I just looked at "Paradise Garden", it's beautiful.. Thanks for that and the story of the photographer BD
Glad Mr. Smith nailed the exposure on that first try. It wouldn't have made for nearly as compelling of a story if he hadn't.
I love the shot, both in BW and color. My recommendation would be to take the BW and paint the color back in a very low saturation of everything outside the tunnel. I'm no fan of selective color in the traditional sense, but I think you could get away with the walls of the tunnel being black and white. It would bring more attention to the garden/subjects, and I believe would give it that illustrated children's book feel.
I like it. Has a sort of feel of transition to it from the B&W world to color, but not in a Wizard of Oz way. I'd desaturate that little bit of green at the top of the tunnel opening -- it's too saturated for the rest of the image (IMO). There's something wonderful about these sorts of pix. I generally find myself snapping a couple of my daughter (and friend when there is one) skipping or walking away when we're out somewhere.
I'd desaturate that little bit of green at the top of the tunnel opening -- it's too saturated for the rest of the image (IMO). There's something wonderful about these sorts of pix.
Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, the branch is some error when I selected background.
These pix of kids, especially when they are seen skipping and also moving off away from the camera, do have a poignant quality - interesting that you have an evocative reactions to similar shots of your daughters.
This a great photo. I like both versions, but I am really a fan of less editing and color manipulation, so I would have to say that the b/w version is my favorite of the two.
Ditto here with regard to the b&w version. For this type of photo it presents a more timeless quality and I also like seeing contrast in the sunlit part of the photo, which is more evident in the b&w.
but I am really a fan of less editing and color manipulation
I feel the same, unless there's a special purpose behind it - but "trying to help" a photo, "make it better" can sometimes also kill the feel it gives a viewer with extensive manipulations.
For this photo of my niece, both the color and b&w are my choice, each has a different effect that's subtle, on me anyway, and both keep the simple feeling I had when I shot it.
There's an interesting exercise a teacher gave us once in a figure-modeling class (clay). He had the model strike a different pose every two minutes or so - this forced us to try to capture the essential, "the gesture", which sometimes gave much more feeling of "reality" - "action" to a figure- than those we detailed to death in weeks of work. Like Degas "bathing women" - just the essence in the clay. Nothing to distract.
I'm neither for nor against color manipulation. I'm for producing the most emotionally evocative image possible. While I understand the need for the photographer at my local newspaper to maintain journalistic integrity, but I'm not her. It's not my job to show the world the way it exists but rather to show it the way people would like to see it.
B.D., I'm not sure how or why you wish me to explain the phrase "get away with," but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I was simply saying that we've all seen photos that were harshly selectively colored in one spot. I think we can all agree that's not a very desirable look. The subject matter and the composition allow us to use selective color to enhance this image, rather than harshly degrade it. Thus "get away" with something that normally doesn't work, but does in this case.
Anyway, gvf, here's what was in my mind. I simply placed your image in a layer above B.D.'s B/W image (Good job on that conversion, by the way. I liked it.) and set it's blending mode to "color." I then lowered the opacity to take down the saturation overall. Then took a white to black circle gradient from the center. I had adjusted the gradient so the whole outside area would be white, then start fading at the edge of the tunnel. That way it fades from color to b/w starting at the edge of the tunnel.
The look I was going for is that the outside world is in color, and the tunnel is dark and B/W, but with the color spilling into the tunnel just a bit. It's really subtle. This description has taken longer for you to read than it did to create the look. If bold colors help tell the story, then leave them. If color detracts from the story, by all means, take it away. If the color can be manipulated to tell more of a story, then why not do that as well.
Boy, I really love that B&W conversion. I have to start hanging out in this forum more often and looking at images like these. I'm just a beginner people photographer and shots like these really make me want to improve.
Shoot in RAW because memory is cheap but memories are priceless.
That looks really nice. Now I have so many versions I'll go whacky.
I don't have the tech knowledge to convert well, so I'll likely leave my larger file of the photo in color until I know more. I shoot a lot of B&W film which I like better than most conversions I see, but yours and the straight B&W do suit the image well - so on this one I will use it.
Thanks for all your work on that. By "manipulation" I usually mean someone who gets so lost in post-p. technique they loose the shot itself.(I've done that). But this is very much a beneficial use of technique - the result being you're not aware of technique, but of the shot. Thanks.
I'm neither for nor against color manipulation. I'm for producing the most emotionally evocative image possible. While I understand the need for the photographer at my local newspaper to maintain journalistic integrity, but I'm not her. It's not my job to show the world the way it exists but rather to show it the way people would like to see it.
B.D., I'm not sure how or why you wish me to explain the phrase "get away with," but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I was simply saying that we've all seen photos that were harshly selectively colored in one spot. I think we can all agree that's not a very desirable look. The subject matter and the composition allow us to use selective color to enhance this image, rather than harshly degrade it. Thus "get away" with something that normally doesn't work, but does in this case.
Anyway, gvf, here's what was in my mind. I simply placed your image in a layer above B.D.'s B/W image (Good job on that conversion, by the way. I liked it.) and set it's blending mode to "color." I then lowered the opacity to take down the saturation overall. Then took a white to black circle gradient from the center. I had adjusted the gradient so the whole outside area would be white, then start fading at the edge of the tunnel. That way it fades from color to b/w starting at the edge of the tunnel.
The look I was going for is that the outside world is in color, and the tunnel is dark and B/W, but with the color spilling into the tunnel just a bit. It's really subtle. This description has taken longer for you to read than it did to create the look. If bold colors help tell the story, then leave them. If color detracts from the story, by all means, take it away. If the color can be manipulated to tell more of a story, then why not do that as well.
Well, I don't even remember what I mean by "get away with," but I will say - no punches pulled - I have no use for selective color in serious photography. If it floats your boat, float on. But I my view is that when you start screwing around with Photoshop, whether to selectively color, or turn a photo into a "drawing," or start playing any of the other tricks, you are no longer doing photography, you are into what must be called "photo illustration;" you are taking a photograph and using it as the basis for something that is essentially non-photographic. Further, I don't believe that the use of selective color can "save" a mediocre or bad photo; crap is crap. I certainly believe that that use of selective color can, however, turn an outstanding photo into crap
To my eye, the original color version of this excellent image didn't work as well as it might because of exposure and color issues, and because viewing it in color turned it into an image that was really about the color, rather than about the children. Taking it to black and white puts the focus on the kids, and their journey from darkness into light.
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"He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan
"The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
In black and white, this is very reminiscent of one of the most famous photographic images of all time - Eugene Smith's "Walk to Paradise Garden". Smith was severely injured during his stint as a WWII combat photographer. He was unable to even pick up a camera for some time after the war. And when he finally did, the shot above of his kids was the first image he made.
"He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan
"The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
I love the shot, both in BW and color. My recommendation would be to take the BW and paint the color back in a very low saturation of everything outside the tunnel. I'm no fan of selective color in the traditional sense, but I think you could get away with the walls of the tunnel being black and white. It would bring more attention to the garden/subjects, and I believe would give it that illustrated children's book feel.
Either way, great job!
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I don't know how to do that kind of "painting" technique, though I thought of that look once, but I'll experiment around, the story-book image is a great one, thanks.
I just looked at "Paradise Garden", it's beautiful.. Thanks for that and the story of the photographer BD
Why "get away" with anything?
"He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan
"The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
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Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, the branch is some error when I selected background.
These pix of kids, especially when they are seen skipping and also moving off away from the camera, do have a poignant quality - interesting that you have an evocative reactions to similar shots of your daughters.
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Why pull punches - this is a really awful thing to do to a wonderful image.
"He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan
"The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed
I feel the same, unless there's a special purpose behind it - but "trying to help" a photo, "make it better" can sometimes also kill the feel it gives a viewer with extensive manipulations.
For this photo of my niece, both the color and b&w are my choice, each has a different effect that's subtle, on me anyway, and both keep the simple feeling I had when I shot it.
There's an interesting exercise a teacher gave us once in a figure-modeling class (clay). He had the model strike a different pose every two minutes or so - this forced us to try to capture the essential, "the gesture", which sometimes gave much more feeling of "reality" - "action" to a figure- than those we detailed to death in weeks of work. Like Degas "bathing women" - just the essence in the clay. Nothing to distract.
This is a wonderful capture.....the spring in their steps is so evident!
FWIW, I prefer the B/W, though I do like your original color version too.
Top notch all around.
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Thanks so much - the "walking away" motif is really striking a chord and revealing from everyone some terrific shots.
B.D., I'm not sure how or why you wish me to explain the phrase "get away with," but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I was simply saying that we've all seen photos that were harshly selectively colored in one spot. I think we can all agree that's not a very desirable look. The subject matter and the composition allow us to use selective color to enhance this image, rather than harshly degrade it. Thus "get away" with something that normally doesn't work, but does in this case.
Anyway, gvf, here's what was in my mind. I simply placed your image in a layer above B.D.'s B/W image (Good job on that conversion, by the way. I liked it.) and set it's blending mode to "color." I then lowered the opacity to take down the saturation overall. Then took a white to black circle gradient from the center. I had adjusted the gradient so the whole outside area would be white, then start fading at the edge of the tunnel. That way it fades from color to b/w starting at the edge of the tunnel.
The look I was going for is that the outside world is in color, and the tunnel is dark and B/W, but with the color spilling into the tunnel just a bit. It's really subtle. This description has taken longer for you to read than it did to create the look. If bold colors help tell the story, then leave them. If color detracts from the story, by all means, take it away. If the color can be manipulated to tell more of a story, then why not do that as well.
My latest project: Worship Backgrounds
My twitter habit: Daniel Roberts
Mahesh
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That looks really nice. Now I have so many versions I'll go whacky.
I don't have the tech knowledge to convert well, so I'll likely leave my larger file of the photo in color until I know more. I shoot a lot of B&W film which I like better than most conversions I see, but yours and the straight B&W do suit the image well - so on this one I will use it.
Thanks for all your work on that. By "manipulation" I usually mean someone who gets so lost in post-p. technique they loose the shot itself.(I've done that). But this is very much a beneficial use of technique - the result being you're not aware of technique, but of the shot. Thanks.
Well, I don't even remember what I mean by "get away with," but I will say - no punches pulled - I have no use for selective color in serious photography. If it floats your boat, float on. But I my view is that when you start screwing around with Photoshop, whether to selectively color, or turn a photo into a "drawing," or start playing any of the other tricks, you are no longer doing photography, you are into what must be called "photo illustration;" you are taking a photograph and using it as the basis for something that is essentially non-photographic. Further, I don't believe that the use of selective color can "save" a mediocre or bad photo; crap is crap. I certainly believe that that use of selective color can, however, turn an outstanding photo into crap
To my eye, the original color version of this excellent image didn't work as well as it might because of exposure and color issues, and because viewing it in color turned it into an image that was really about
the color, rather than about the children. Taking it to black and white puts the focus on the kids, and their journey from darkness into light.
You asked...
"He not busy being born is busy dying." Bob Dylan
"The more ambiguous the photograph is, the better it is..." Leonard Freed