[Leica] Still testing

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

I do think a color image is successful because the information separates
because of the fact that they are different colors.
In black and white work like you mentioned last week its way less
information as just shades of the same color tone.
And the image maker had to make what's left separate like crazy to make up
for that fact.
And to do this we have to maximize contrast up to a point where it really
just about becomes too much. And plenty will cross that line.  A black and
white image has way more "punch" than reality i.e. what we saw when we were
standing there with our camera in our hands.
If an image needs a #3 paper or filter we use a #4 and burn and dodge like
crazy to now loose the darks and lights. But the mid tones have gamma as a
result like nobodies business. Separation like does not exist in life or a
color print.
But the discussion as about sharpness not contrast wasn't it?
This edgy contrast  which is thought of as the norm in black and white image
making both darkroom and now Photoshop overlaps totally with what we
perceive as "sharpness" to be. And I think its more than our perception
there is a strong relationship between sharpness and contrast.

Color unlike black and white is not a contrast problem.
The information is all there because it exists as different colors.

I'm not saying that a careful contrast adjustment will not benefit a modern
digital color image I'm just saying its way less necessary or critical for
the making of a successfully image.

Mark William Rabiner
Photography
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/


> From: Paul Roark <roark.paul at gmail.com>
> Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
> Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2012 09:20:06 -0700
> To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Still testing
> 
> Tina,
> 
>> ... The 75 Summilux is the hardest lens for me to focus.
> 
> 
> By the way, in looking at differences between B&W and color, the one
> thing that seems clear is that our human visual acuity -- the
> resolution we can see -- is significantly higher in B&W.  So, it's
> possible the focus errors you never noticed in color will be visible
> in B&W.  I think this also may explain why so many think a good B&W
> looks sharper than color -- visually it is.  I'm taking advantage of
> this now with the B&W dyes, and particularly the metallic papers, to
> make B&W images that have an apparent sharpness that is just beyond
> our usual experience.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
> 
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