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  #11  
Old 19th January 2015, 10:38 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Ian and Jon. These are dangerous sentiments. If enough of our race adopt such stances there is a real danger that life on Earth will get better for all of us

Mike
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  #12  
Old 19th January 2015, 11:41 PM
Adrian Adrian is offline
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I shoot black and white for many reasons,but to be really honest about it, it's because it is satisfying, accessible and not so expensive and tricky as colour printing. I also shoot colour but use a digital work flow. But the colour work all sits on a hard drive and I hardly ever print any of it. I don't own a colour printer. The black and white print comes out of the dark room with me, often still wet and I love to study it, think and maybe have another go printing it differently.
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  #13  
Old 19th January 2015, 11:46 PM
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Argentum Argentum is offline
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all photographs are abstractions and B&W more so than a literal colour image. B&W is about shape, form and gradients in a minimalist form used to represent whatever it is you are wanting show. Less is more. And I do it because I can. And learning to "See in B&W" is cool. I see in colour all the time but in B&W only when I'm really thinking about it. And groping about in the dark is cool too.
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  #14  
Old 20th January 2015, 06:28 AM
RichardWarom RichardWarom is offline
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I like black and white and I like using film no other reason and I love the way Martyn throws in these hand grenades and quietly steps back, a brilliant strategy.
Richard
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  #15  
Old 20th January 2015, 02:46 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardWarom View Post
I love the way Martyn throws in these hand grenades and quietly steps back, a brilliant strategy.
Richard
Thought-provoking is another applicable phrase and as long as we enter into it, or not as takes our fancy, in a spirit of "contribution" then it is fine

So far I'd say FADUers have earned themselves a commendation in terms of our spirit.

Mike
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  #16  
Old 20th January 2015, 03:17 PM
JOReynolds JOReynolds is offline
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I shoot and print B&W because I can do it properly. I used to sell, install, repair and design colour print processors and I became proficient at printing colour with (other people's) very sophisticated equipment. But, when the opportunity came to set up my own darkroom, I felt that, if I couldn't generate the throughput that would keep the chemistry in good order, I wouldn't attempt colour printing at home. I don't regret the decision.
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  #17  
Old 20th January 2015, 04:30 PM
big paul big paul is offline
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here lies my problem i can go in my darkroom and play with B/W film and paper no special programs just move the enlarger head up and down to adjust the size ,the only hi teck gear i have is two light bulbs .I said to my wife get me some of that £1.00 color film ,she came back with 30 rolls ,Now i do developer color film but at the moment i cannot print it ,so that leaves the scanner to copy them on to my computer ,i only have a cheap printer so i cannot print them up ,I have no interest in computers other than reading FADU ,i use the INTERNET as a book and thats it ..so I end up with the negative but the rest of the proses is taken out of my hands .I will use the film up but now i am taking two cameras around with me whenever i am going to photograph something .
at a later date i will have to try and print color
www.essexcockney.com
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  #18  
Old 20th January 2015, 05:35 PM
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B&W Neil B&W Neil is offline
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A good few years a go I used to go in phases - colour / black and white, but hardly ever together as I found that was hard to do.

For the last 20 odd years it has just been black and white + alternative printing of any type. Some of this black and white work, and the alternatives, have been quite colourful. Cyanotypes, lith prints, lumens, bleach back / redevelop and split toning all spring to mind.

So I now find myself in a strange world where I am a black and white photographer, and see my images as such, but they may well end up quite colourful, and certainly not as seen at the making stage, but often I know what I shall doing with the negative at the printing stage. However, if I am honest sometimes this is not always the case and the type of printing process I shall use comes to me some time later.

I have thought about this several times over the years and I now longer carry such thoughts about with me when I'm out making images as it can become a distraction.

After all, reactively speaking, there are not that many print makers actually making prints these days, by whatever image making method you care to think of. Analogue photography is still an endangered species and with the other form of image making large prints are hardly ever made and the JPG rules the day.

Maybe we should be making as many prints as we can, colour, black and white or whatever and celebrate the print - before print making dies out completely.

Neil.
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"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." Aristotle

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Last edited by B&W Neil; 20th January 2015 at 05:54 PM.
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  #19  
Old 20th January 2015, 06:40 PM
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skellum skellum is offline
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With regard to the original post, it was suggested that Marty's modern documentary photography should be in colour. Here's an image I came across whilst viewing another thread.
Take a look, and try to hold onto your first impression.

http://www.professionalphotographer....%20Ukraine.jpg

This is a documentary photography, taken during the fighting in Ukraine. To me it feels like a movie-still. Part of that comes from the action, with the two running figures, the woman's hair streaming out, and the billowing smoke.
However, the colour (turned up to MAX) is definitely a large factor. This screams Hollywood.
Would black and white have lent a more sombre tone, so that we focussed more on the fleeing couple than on the spectacle?
Or am I just being an old f@rt?
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  #20  
Old 20th January 2015, 07:21 PM
Tony Marlow Tony Marlow is online now
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Quote:
Would black and white have lent a more sombre tone, so that we focussed more on the fleeing couple than on the spectacle?
You are absolutely right, I have looked at the colour version and one converted to B&W. With the colour one your eye goes to the flames and the people are secondary, with the monochrome version the main feature are the people, the flames are secondary. It is amazing how the centre of interest changes.

Tony
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