Scrap the camera and draw your photos in PS!

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

04/10/2006 05:33:15 PM · #26

Originally posted by coolhar:

Originally posted by book:
Shoot in black and white mode whenever possible. ...

Yeah, right.

Quite a few fairly well respected photographers have followed this advice quite slavishly in the past. Seemed to work for them.

Message edited by author 2006-04-10 17:33:27.

Canon EOS-20D

04/10/2006 05:43:34 PM · #27

Originally posted by Gordon:

Originally posted by coolhar:

Originally posted by book:
Shoot in black and white mode whenever possible. ...

Yeah, right.

Quite a few fairly well respected photographers have followed this advice quite slavishly in the past. Seemed to work for them.

I thought the usual advice was to shoot color and convert later? I would especially think this would be the case for someone advocating the construction of images in PS. Would you recommend using the BW setting on the camera instead?

coolhar

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

04/10/2006 06:10:43 PM · #28

Originally posted by Gordon:

Quite a few fairly well respected photographers have followed this advice quite slavishly in the past. Seemed to work for them.

I thought it was a book about digital photography. Like film, B&W is a vestige of the past.

04/10/2006 06:24:38 PM · #29

Originally posted by coolhar:

Originally posted by Gordon:
Quite a few fairly well respected photographers have followed this advice quite slavishly in the past. Seemed to work for them.

I thought it was a book about digital photography. Like film, B&W is a vestige of the past.

Film is a technology.

B&W is an aesthetic. Not really something that dates in the same way a technology does.

Plenty of people making digital B&W prints. Plenty of B&W magazines being sold.

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

04/10/2006 06:28:10 PM · #30

Originally posted by mk:

The common process is to shoot colour first. Though if you want to see in B&W, shooting with your camera in B&W mode is a very instructive way to start. As ever, the extremely short feedback loop enabled by digital can be exploited to learn more quickly, if you want to.

Though as none of us have read the book, it is kind of hard to imply much meaning from some cherry-picked quotes.

The April 7th lenswork audio blog co-incidentally talked about the use of B&W in the digital age (Lenswork Audio blogs) Though I disagree on one technical point, given that all digital cameras only capture in B&W and then post-process that result to produce colour, all the time.

coolhar

04/10/2006 06:30:16 PM · #31

Originally posted by Gordon:

Film is a technology.

B&W is an aesthetic. Not really something that dates in the same way a technology does.

Plenty of people making digital B&W prints. Plenty of B&W magazines being sold.

Call it what you like, it is doomed to gradually dwindle and go the route of old soldiers.

Canon EOS-20D

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

04/10/2006 06:37:17 PM · #32

Originally posted by Gordon:

Though as none of us have read the book, it is kind of hard to imply much meaning from some cherry-picked quotes.

True, although the cherry-picked quotes, which were picked by the author, didn't inspire me to purchase it either.

Originally posted by coolhar:

Call it what you like, it is doomed to gradually dwindle and go the route of old soldiers.

Why do you think that?

coolhar

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

04/10/2006 06:55:26 PM · #33

Originally posted by mk:

Originally posted by coolhar:

Call it what you like, it is doomed to gradually dwindle and go the route of old soldiers.

Why do you think that?

I think it is pretty obvious that B&W was/is a hangover from the days before color film became available. Film is dying. B&W will too. Slowly perhaps, because it has many adherents, but inevitably. Kids who grow up with internet-connected computers in their classrooms, and indeed, in their bedrooms, don't read as many books as their parents did. You can go to Central Park in NYC and get a ride in a horse & buggy if you like (for aesthetic reasons?) but most of us use autos these days. It's not a value-based judgement but just the reality of time and technology marching onward.

Baxter

Nikon D500

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

04/10/2006 07:00:18 PM · #34

When I read the title of this thread I thought you were talking about trying to do this type of work.
//www.bertmonroy.com/fineart/text/fineart1.htm#

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

04/10/2006 07:50:45 PM · #35

Originally posted by wavelength:

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

Originally posted by mk:

Originally posted by book:
Free yourself from the viewfinder. I find this very liberating. Your images will be authentic and you'll begin to shoot differently.

OK, all the quotes were a bit ludricrous, but this one makes me say "WTF?"

I'm not quite sure if this is what they're talking about, but I find some of my "shot from the hip" pictures to have a very satisfying off-kilter and "real" feel to them.

Other photographers suggest methods for shooting without using the viewfinder. Look at the exercises in the book 'Photography and the Art of Seeing' by Freeman Paterson. One of his exercises is to use a long shutter speed and swing the camera while the shutter is open.

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

04/11/2006 09:03:05 AM · #36

Originally posted by cpanaioti:

Mostly the intention is to get away from the notion that you have to be standing, arms braced at your side, feet slightly apart, camera at eye level, everything solid before you can take a 'good' picture.

It isn't life & death, just taking pictures. These exercises tend to remind you that it is supposed to be fun, there are no rules and you just might find something interesting while you are off playing, that you'd never think about. All these 'wtf' or 'weird' and 'stupid' suggestions are similar. You'll taken thousands of pictures in your life, they don't all have to be serious. You'll probably learn more from looking at the ones that aren't.

BobsterLobster

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro

04/11/2006 09:08:29 AM · #37

Originally posted by Gordon:

Wow, tell me where I can find a film camera that will show me b&w through the viewfinder!

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

04/11/2006 09:13:08 AM · #38

Originally posted by BobsterLobster:

Originally posted by Gordon:

Originally posted by coolhar:

Originally posted by book:
Shoot in black and white mode whenever possible. ...

Yeah, right.

Quite a few fairly well respected photographers have followed this advice quite slavishly in the past. Seemed to work for them.

Wow, tell me where I can find a film camera that will show me b&w through the viewfinder!

There are devices that can be used to view a scene as it would appear in black and white. I know a few film shooters who do this to check the contrast range of a scene.

Apple iPhone 5

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

04/11/2006 09:30:34 AM · #39

"Scrap the camera and draw your photos in PS!"

Okay, here's my Color Studio Portrait entry. Could I get SC validation please?