Austin Street Scene - B&W or Color?

redleash · January 9, 2010

Here is a shot I took during the Austin DGrin Christmas Meetup. While not too well executed technically, I like the scene because it seems to have layers of stories in it. The three men in the foreground, while close physically, seem to be in their own worlds. And the fourth man has left the scene entirely.

I can't decide if I prefer the color or B&W. I'm leaning towards B&W, but does this conversion work or does it need something? Or is the color version better?

I'd appreciate any C&C.

Thanks,
Lauren

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Toshido · January 9, 2010

I like the colour version. I would like it even more if you toned down the yellow cab in the background.

in the colour version all the colours are drab, black and earth tones. Except for the guy sitting in the striped shirt. It creates a focal point.

In B&W I don't really see anything to draw my focus.

TonyCooper · January 10, 2010

redleash wrote:

Here is a shot I took during the Austin DGrin Christmas Meetup. While not too well executed technically, I like the scene because it seems to have layers of stories in it. The three men in the foreground, while close physically, seem to be in their own worlds. And the fourth man has left the scene entirely.

I can't decide if I prefer the color or B&W. I'm leaning towards B&W, but does this conversion work or does it need something? Or is the color version better?

I'd appreciate any C&C.

The color version certainly jumps out, but I'm not sure you want the scene to jump out. The bright sweater is bit too bright. You mention three men in their own worlds, but the one man so dominant that the other two men are not really part of the story you see. (Yeah, I see the fourth man, but he's not really part of the scene)

I think I'd try black and white and crop this down to the three men only...just to right of the black man with the notebook. The rest of the
scene doesn't add to the story you see. One man in street otherwise deserted might work with the larger view, but three men spoil the deserted look. With the crop, you pick up the aspect of the one man being so physically separated from the other two. Since there's no dynamic aspect to the scene, you need something like this.

You also have what looks like a face peering out from the window.

rutt · January 10, 2010

This is a great demonstration of the fact that B&W conversions essentially involve artistic decisions to resolve ambiguity. In the color version, the orange in that pullover stands out and dominates the image. Fine, now what do we want in the B&W version?

Should it still be the center of attention?
If so should it be very light or very dark?
Even if not, should it be darker or lighter than the green in the pullover?
If we downplay the orange, should we try to bring out the faces and perhaps lighten them?

I'll make this a little more concrete. Here are two extreme treatments:

Which is the "best?" That's an artist's choice, something only you can decide. If this had been shot in B&W film, there would be no decision to make; the choice of film and filter determined the answer at shoot time. But in the glorious digital age, we get to make these decisions in post. Hooray!

See this tutorial for more.

redleash · January 10, 2010

Thanks to each of your for your comments. I especially appreciate C&C regarding B&W processes because I don't have much experience with them. I never shot much B&W with my film cameras.

Rutt--I did try the same experiments you did regarding the effect of the orange shirt when converted to B&W. It can go wildly in several directions. I settled on the one in my post because I saw it as the truest to the tones in the original color shot, w/o drawing too much attention to it. I was not trying to draw attention to the orange sweater as I saw each of the three men as being equally important. I do see how I could in fact make the orange sweater the focal point and tell a different type of story--like "standing out in the crowd," or in this case sitting

.

Thanks again. I think I will play with this one some more, in different ways, and re-post later.

Further C&C on the original posts are welcomed!

Lauren

Patti · January 10, 2010

I like the man in the distance and the lined pattern of the sidewalk. It draws me in deeper and provides some perspective of the street the men are on. The 3 men alone would be a bit blah to me.

Austin Street Scene - B&W or Color?

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