Camera Labs

I didn't know whether to post this in pets or people, decided it worked best for people. I am curious, do most of you do the B&W with color thing or do you think it is against the very nature of photography. I like it (obviously), but what do others think?

I've always thought the color/BW thing was cool for some photos, like yours for instance, in others it was distracting. I don't know how to do that but I like it!

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Dee
Olympus E-520, Zuiko 14-42 f/3.5-5.6 ED, Zuiko 25mm f/2.8

I think it very much depends on the shot but I certainly have nothing against it.

You can see two of mine below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markh1000/2535588785/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markh1000/2694837009/

Your shot has captured a great moment.

Mark

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Canon EOS 40D / EF-S 17-85mm IS / EF 50mm f/1.8 / My Flickr

Try to work on your composition, Personally i didn't find this photo attractive to look at. and I don't see how the b&w + color help to make the photo better.

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I have to say, your critique wasn't helpful. I've seen a lot of pictures I haven't cared for due to genre, but I didn't discount the picture just because I have personal preferences. Anyway, sad you didn't like it, I still do. Have a good day.

Let me step in here. Despite my assumed absence, I came upon this whilst checking the final thread I had left comments in (this one here).

Artlove has given a very clear opinion, and one that I would say could be rightly justified (if only it were given). The lack of justification and any pointers on how to improve your future work has spurred me to write this, so let me expand upon what was said by Artlove.



The composition is indeed weak. A basic construction is the rule of thirds/the golden mean. At first glance you could be excused for seemingly believing your image follows this, but it doesn't. Without wanting to repeat myself, in essence it's an identical critique that I made for another member (see here). This simple construction rule doesn't have to be closely followed at all times, but if you're aiming to use it, know how to execute it.

Composition aside, I can try to understand the candid nature and story behind your photo, yet there isn't enough interest for my eyes to focus on. And this I guess is the second point I should pick up on:



Let me have a stab at why you chose to colour-pop: there wasn't anywhere near enough contrast between the background and your subject(s) to give the image a focal point. There is simply too much depth of field (DoF) that everything from foreground to background is sharp. DoF is a complex thing to control that takes distances and apertures into account. Have a read up on it, and better control of it will help you define your subject(s) from the environment.

The colour-popping helps in a way by creating some defined subjects, yet it doesn't help in another respect because it instantly highlights the flaws in your image.



This is the important part - as long as you're happy with your images. However I felt your final comment was unwarranted.



Yet you're inviting comments.



You've got to be able to take the good and the bad comments.

I'll leave you with my thoughts: It is an unattractive image that I really don't like for the reasons explained above, yet I can appreciate the moment captured. It is as the thread title says - something akin to fun without technical merit. Hopefully I've given enough pointers for a better effort next time.


Thanks for sharing.

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Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

Photoj, thank you for your constructive critique. It was helpful. It actually made me go do more pp of the picture. Here's the update



Anyway, I do appreciate useful feedback.

however, I am quite interested others opinions of color pop/extensive pp. Some people are rather purists when it comes to photography, and I am curious if most people use fairly extensive pp or try to keep photos as close to what comes out of the camera as possible. Thanks again to all.

Digital photography has to embrace the post-processing element. However we can't neglect the technical aspects from the days of film.

Regarding the update, it's not polished with visible traces of where your work was done with the masking and overdone gaussian blur. The effect would have been best achieved in camera, but I'm sure you've already gone and looked up DoF control. Quality of processing aside, can you see how getting the background and foreground out of focus brings more isolation towards your subjects?

Ending on a positive, the cropping is an improvement over the original.

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Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

Yes, I can definitely see how the dof is much better focused on the subjects. I'm still having a very hard time getting DoF right straight out of camera. I can get it most of the time when focusing on only one object, but two has been very difficult. I end up with a very large DoF to get both clear, or I end up with one clear and another blurry. I guess the best thing to do is practice practice practice. The joy of digital is you can practice for free!

The dog and the boy are pretty much at a similar distance so focusing on one or the other and setting a wide aperture should have given you a nice DoF. Stand right back, zoom in, wide aperture and that should set you right.

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Nikon D700 | 20mm f2.8 | 28mm f2.8 | 50mm f1.8 | 70-300 f4-5.6 | SB800 | flickr | serial photography

Well i'm really not the one to say whats you should have done instead cause I really don't know. The colors are very bright which is a good picture but not with the B&W =/

It just looks fake to me. I'm not saying it is, i'm sure it isn't but it just looks like a photoshoped picture.

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Olympus E-500
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