Sometimes, I’ll see an image as black and white (or some version of monochrome) in my head, and will shoot to suit that idea, but other times, when I am post-processing my images in Lightroom 4 (which is an excellent digital darkroom program from Adobe—it’s in the Photoshop family, but without all the design-oriented bells and whistles), I’ll find that the image has more punch or power or maybe just more accurately evokes the feeling I’m looking for when it’s black and white.
Sometimes color can be a distraction from composition or texture, from light and shadow and shapes. At those times, I look to monochrome.
Lightroom lets me experiment with different versions of an image nondestructively. The “undo” command is one of my best friends!
Sure—I’ll keep my eyes peeled for an opportunity to double up on an image that looks interesting both ways. Sometimes, it’s a toss-up, and I have a hard time deciding.
A lot of it depends on what I happen to have ready to go—images that are complete, and that I’m happy with… sometimes, I’ll try to tell a story with a series of posts (normally, I update the blog at noon on weekdays), like the recent ballooning series. And sometimes, I’ll wind up on a tear with one topic, like farming. A busy day at a friend’s farm might yield a bunch of nice shots that I’ll want to share, and then I have to decide whether to run them all sequentially, or mix it up.
explore468photography
How do you decide whether to shoot black and white or color? (or, I guess, how do you decide whether you’ll photoshop it black and white or color?)
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
Sometimes, I’ll see an image as black and white (or some version of monochrome) in my head, and will shoot to suit that idea, but other times, when I am post-processing my images in Lightroom 4 (which is an excellent digital darkroom program from Adobe—it’s in the Photoshop family, but without all the design-oriented bells and whistles), I’ll find that the image has more punch or power or maybe just more accurately evokes the feeling I’m looking for when it’s black and white.
Sometimes color can be a distraction from composition or texture, from light and shadow and shapes. At those times, I look to monochrome.
Lightroom lets me experiment with different versions of an image nondestructively. The “undo” command is one of my best friends!
Would you consider sharing both (color and black and white) images on occasion? Do you actually take them on the day that you post?
Sure—I’ll keep my eyes peeled for an opportunity to double up on an image that looks interesting both ways. Sometimes, it’s a toss-up, and I have a hard time deciding.
Check the “Shinobi” post for an example of my occasional indecisiveness.
https://explore.468photography.com/2011/11/01/shinobi/
I typically post shots within a week of taking them… but sometimes the turnaround time could be quicker or much longer, depending on circumstances.
How do you decide what to put up on any given day?
A lot of it depends on what I happen to have ready to go—images that are complete, and that I’m happy with… sometimes, I’ll try to tell a story with a series of posts (normally, I update the blog at noon on weekdays), like the recent ballooning series. And sometimes, I’ll wind up on a tear with one topic, like farming. A busy day at a friend’s farm might yield a bunch of nice shots that I’ll want to share, and then I have to decide whether to run them all sequentially, or mix it up.
But it’s at least 50% whim based!