Recently a friend challenged me to post 5 black and white photos on my Facebook page. It was not something I had ever thought about before and I enjoyed seeing the effect of tasking the colour out of pictures. I played around with quite a few but as I could only share 5 as part of that challenge I thought I would put some more up here over a few blog posts. Today I give you plants in black and white and you can click on the photos to make them bigger if you want.
1. Sunlight shining through the seed heads of Welsh Onions
For me I like the way you can see the rays of sun and still feel the warmth even without the colour.
2. A Gladiolus stretching up into the summer sky
Again I think you can feel the summer heat but is it odd not knowing what colour the flower is? What colour do you think it might be does the photo lose something by just being in black and white?
3. Frost on a Winter Cabbage
Moving from summer to winter now. I am not too sure if this works as I don't think the frost is emphasised enough where-as with the colour photo it is obvious. But I do like the detail of the leaves anyway.
4. A swirling Umbellifer
I am not sure there is enough definition here although I so think the shape of the multiple flower head works well without colour.
5. Parsley Flower
I do however think that this picture works better with the darker background. But do you agree?
6. Autumn Leaves
This photo was pretty uninspiring in colour so I wondered if it would work better in black and white. I am still not sure. What do you think?
7. Cosmos flower
I adore the simplicity of cosmos flowers and the bright colours so how would they look if you took away one of their main attractions? In fact I think I love this particular flower even more without it's colour. It stills yells summer to me and it my head I can feel the warmth and see the colour. Do you feel the same or do you feel the picture lacks because the colour has gone?
Lots of questions and I would really value your opinions, professional and personal. Which photos work for you and which don't ... and why?
No expert but here is my two-penneth - a b+w photograph is a genre that aims to highlight either, shape and form, texture, atmosphere, depth of field or all of the above. Good contrast, focussing and white balance is important when taking the picture, the rest can be tweeked in editing. I like the cabbage, parsley flower and cosmos for the above reasons. Most of all as an amatuer photographer, I would say that the important thing is to enjoy the process and the results - there are no wrongs and rights. Creativity and form are such a personal matter. The end result is ornament - it can simply adorn or it can tell a story.
ReplyDeleteI agree Ian - and I really enjoyed seeing which photos worked well in black and white and which (in my opinion) didn't.
DeleteYou've got good contrast on these so the colour isn't overly important, particularly with the Gladiolus. I love Cosmos too but I think I prefer at least a hint of colour there even if you kept the background monochrome. The cabbage flower is a great photo in the b & w and if you hadn't mentioned the frost element I don't think I'd have felt anything was missing! And, you're right, I like the parsley flower with the darker background. However, I always say there's no right and wrong in photography, like with any art form the beauty is in the eye of the beholder :) I only popped over to catch up with the animal tales!!
ReplyDeleteGlad you did pop by and thanks for your comments.
DeleteI think black and white picture can look quite striking, depending on the subject. My favourite pictures of yours are the ones with more detail; the parsley flower, cabbage, swirling Umbellifer and the heads of the Welsh onions.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that it works for the gladioli or the autumn leaves; there seems to be something missing from them.
At the end of the day what appeals to one person in a picture may not appeal to another, it's very much a thing of personal preference.
Lisa, above you in the comments, likes the gladiolus but like you I am not sure about the leaves.
DeleteI never knew the singular of gladioli was gladiolus!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up with Wordless Wednesday!
:) You do know!
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