Color

bdcolen

So okay, I've reversed the photo and my comment that I'm not sure I'll ever top this as a color image. But on the other hand, perhaps this is just a good example of what lousy editors we can be of our own work. :rofl

thoth

I can't say that I get it. There is a lot of vibrant color, and it's obviously the subject, but the boy's(?) motion causes the human element to be so incredibly abstract as to go missing completely for me. And, without that human element, I just don't see the point of the shot.

I do hope I'm missing something, though.

Seefutlung

Okay ... you've mastered green ... shall we move on to red?

rutt

Very nice. You always like to say that when it's color, you see the color, but when it's B&W you see the people (or whatever.) I guess this one is right in line with that, it's so about the color. And it's really great the way they interact with one another! You gotta love all those different things and panes playing off each other, each it's own separate world yet part of a larger universe.

What if her face weren't blurred?

bdcolen

Seefutlung wrote:

Okay ... you've mastered green ... shall we move on to red?

bdcolen

rutt wrote:

Very nice. You always like to say that when it's color, you see the color, but when it's B&W you see the people (or whatever.) I guess this one is right in line with that, it's so about the color. And it's really great the way they interact with one another! You gotta love all those different things and panes playing off each other, each it's own separate world yet part of a larger universe.

What if her face weren't blurred?

If she weren't bouncing up and down it wouldn't be the same image.

rainbow

Okay, let me venture into murky waters to give feedback to the guru...

Wonderful color shot! First off, you are obviously helped by the interior decorator who had a great eye for the decor (are those pics taped to the individual window panes?) and set the basis of the shot. Then the additional elements on the table helped complete the color elements. The hat on the boy is a great linking element AND his being blurry does not detract from what is a great compositional photograph (thus, the choice to blur him is why you are the guru... ).

Now on to the non-photo stuff. Of course you will never top this IF you set your expectations so low. Which is probably natural for a b & w guy...
But what was that about "...busy being born..."?

And I wish you had placed your comments after the shot... When I viewed the shot it was with the mindset of whether you could ever top this even before first reacting to the photo.

rutt

bdcolen wrote:

If she weren't bouncing up and down it wouldn't be the same image.

Of course not, but that doesn't answer the question. And actually I didn't get "bouncing" from the blur. Maybe a little less blur would accomplished that. It was a "what if" not a suggestion.

As you like to remind us: "He not busy being born..."

bdcolen

rainbow wrote:

Okay, let me venture into murky waters to give feedback to the guru...

Wonderful color shot! First off, you are obviously helped by the interior decorator who had a great eye for the decor (are those pics taped to the individual window panes?) and set the basis of the shot. Then the additional elements on the table helped complete the color elements. The hat on the boy is a great linking element AND his being blurry does not detract from what is a great compositional photograph (thus, the choice to blur him is why you are the guru... ).

Now on to the non-photo stuff. Of course you will never top this IF you set your expectations so low. Which is probably natural for a b & w guy...
But what was that about "...busy being born..."?

And I wish you had placed your comments after the shot... When I viewed the shot it was with the mindset of whether you could ever top this even before first reacting to the photo.

Good points! First off, thank you - I've now reversed the photo and text.

Second, yes, of course the interior decorator provided the set. Nothing wrong with that. The question then is what do you do with the set that's been provided. And the dishes of candy work very nicely with the older colors, from the purple in the buttons to the purple on the table to the purple on the girl's sash - to say nothing of the various greens, and the other colors. But, again, as a photographer, isn't that what one is supposed to be looking for if one is shooting color? Anyone remember the "Decisive Moment" assignment way back when? Well, there you go.

As to the 'I'll never top this' and the 'he not busy being born....' Good point. On the other hand, I don't tend to spend allot of time photographing this sort of scene, so maybe it's do it and move on, no? (Or, you may just be saying - very politely 'This really sucks and yes, you've lost your mind. - which I've certainly set myself up for.)

bdcolen

rutt wrote:

Of course not, but that doesn't answer the question. And actually I didn't get "bouncing" from the blur. Maybe a little less blur would accomplished that. It was a "what if" not a suggestion.

As you like to remind us: "He not busy being born..."

Well, what if's are great, but moments, decisive or otherwise, are just moments - and shooting this another way is not an option.

rainbow

bdcolen wrote:

Second, yes, of course the interior decorator provided the set. Nothing wrong with that. The question then is what do you do with the set that's been provided. Anyone remember the "Decisive Moment" assignment way back when? Well, there you go.

(Or, you may just be saying - very politely 'This really sucks and yes, you've lost your mind. - which I've certainly set myself up for.)

Nothing negative in the criticism offered. I exactly love the "Decisive Moment" that you captured! You saw it in a way I expect that I would not have.

Nothing sucky about it. Not expecting you to become a convert to color, but hoping that now and then it tickles your fancy when you see something akin to this one.:wow

Richard

Well, it was certainly a scene sent by the gods--decorator colors echoed by the food and the clothing. The blown highlights just kill it for me, I'm afraid. It's like adding a high-distortion, feedback electric guitar to a string quartet. Overpowers the rest. Sorry.

rutt

bdcolen wrote:

Well, what if's are great, but moments, decisive or otherwise, are just moments - and shooting this another way is not an option.

The question is whether this shot can open a door for you. If it's perfect, then maybe not, you'll never do any better, it was a fluke, the stars were all aligned and never will be again. If so, maybe this shot is just one of a kind, a sort of dead end for you.

But I ask the "what if" question as a way of exploring what this picture is for you. Have you opened a new door? If so, what's in the room on the other side? Is it worth exploring? Can you park this in the back of your mind and decide to do something a little different next time in order to open up that space? If so, this shot might be even more than just the best color shot you've ever taken so far. It might be part of that "being born" thing. And how great would that be?

B.D., this is more than a very nice shot, it's a very different shot from you. It uses stuff that you are good at but it also uses elements that you normally finesse with B&W and a blunt honest style.

Was this a one night stand or the start of a beautiful friendship?

bdcolen

Richard wrote:

Well, it was certainly a scene sent by the gods--decorator colors echoed by the food and the clothing. The blown highlights just kill it for me, I'm afraid. It's like adding a high-distortion, feedback electric guitar to a string quartet. Overpowers the rest. Sorry.

No need to apologize. One man's candy is another man's diabetes. And all kidding aside, the question was what to keep and what to lose, in terms of the ends of the spectrum.

bdcolen

rutt wrote:

The question is whether this shot can open a door for you. If it's perfect, then maybe not, you'll never do any better, it was a fluke, the stars were all aligned and never will be again. If so, maybe this shot is just one of a kind, a sort of dead end for you.

But I ask the "what if" question as a way of exploring what this picture is for you. Have you opened a new door? If so, what's in the room on the other side? Is it worth exploring? Can you park this in the back of your mind and decide to do something a little different next time in order to open up that space? If so, this shot might be even more than just the best color shot you've ever taken so far. It might be part of that "being born" thing. And how great would that be?

B.D., this is more than a very nice shot, it's a very different shot from you. It uses stuff that you are good at but it also uses elements that you normally finesse with B&W and a blunt honest style.

Was this a one night stand or the start of a beautiful friendship?

! Actually, if I was to go through all my discs and all my piles of 4x6s, there would be any number of color one-night-stands. I don't dislike color, I just tend to like the look and aesthetic of black and white more. But some of my all-time-favorites, including some images that I no longer have copies of but still remember, have been color.

W.W. Webster

bdcolen wrote:

So that confirms it - PJ and colo(u)r aren't mutually exclusive!

bdcolen

W.W. Webster wrote:

So that confirms it - PJ and colo(u)r aren't mutually exclusive!

Okay - For the 999th time - almost all modern photo journalism is shot in color; look at your daily newspaper.

Two, neither this photo, nor virtually anything posted on this site is "photo journalism." Photo journalism is JOURNALISM - REPORTING, covering NEWS and NEWS features - using photos. Photo journalists cover breaking news events, and features, and produce photos that tell the story of those events.

There is street photography posted here; there is some documentary photography posted here - or at least documentary-style photography; and there are many, many candid photos posted here.

As I have said many times, I wish we could change the name of this forum to "The Read World," because virtually all the photos posted here are unposed photographs that capture life in all it's daily vagueries. The rest of the nomenclature is pretty meaningless on this site.

W.W. Webster

bdcolen wrote:

I wish we could change the name of this forum to "The Read World"

Richard

bdcolen wrote:

And all kidding aside, the question was what to keep and what to lose, in terms of the ends of the spectrum.

I don't understand the question. What spectrum are you talking about, keepers and losers? Truffles and turds? Or are you asking about the various elements of this pic--color, composition, exposure, DOF, narrative?