[Leica] RE: Why I do not shoot color

[DenizSaylan.Foto@t-online.de (DS)]

In times where I worked for daily newspapers I shoot 95% of my pictures in
B&W and the rest I shoot in color.
When I got these 5% back for my lab, I wasn't happy with the results and so
I started to fight for the good old B&W photography, because this was my
only channel to express myself in photography which was my profession.
The time came where I wasn't happy anymore with the daily paper. I wanted to
go deeper into the stories and spend more time on them, but with a 50$ per
photo you couldn't gain enough for spending the time, so I decided to go to
the magazines. But they want to have color pictures. I needed a hole bunch
of time to get into the color photography, to get used to the tools of
color, films exposure, development. After a period of trying several film
brands, I met a photographer who gave me a good tip: "You need two sorts of
film and you need to know them in every imaginable situation, push, pull
bright light and so on. And then work with them. Period."
And I have to say that he was right. After the first tryouts and experiments
I started to understand and to feel how a colorfilm is working and I got
better pictures. I changed my film a few times, but with every film I
started, I've done the same experiments and if the results weren't better I
went back to my last film.

It's upon you as a photographer to do something or not. But I'm sure that at
the moment you got exited about BW, you invested a lot of energy to try out
different brands of film and developers. The same you can do with color, but
it is not so easy as it is in BW.

To get an exiting color photo is much more difficult than to get a exiting
BW photo, at least because we see color and a normal shoot average
colorphoto is mostly not as surprising as a unused BW reduction.

Best regards,

Deniz

> Oh come on!
At least you spell it out.
What about "recycling" your past frustrations
so as to maximize the newer digital oriented,
and quite affordable, digital technologies.
I'd say about an hour a day for a week would
get you documented beyond the point of resistance
and into enjoying color oriented photography.

"Clinically", real life photography that is,
color is just natural: get those cones excited,
get the pleasure center to appreciate YOUR color work.
You are used to forms, texture, image composition,
tonal range, foreground background considerations,
simply add color.
Start with daylight, any time of day: make the most
of what's in front of you. FEEL it in color.
GRAB the colors that are there but so many others
don't see for not having YOUR photographic eye.
Turn problems into "art" ...
Don't go for "off the wall" color photography on your
first roll. Simply try to convey what already interests you
in B&W. Make it a step by step "acclimatization" process.

Perhaps trying to exploit a "theme" or the light of the moment,
but augmented by the many color dimensions
you are well aware of and write so well about ...

If you enjoy lab work, try your hand at a roll or two
of Ektachrome. It's quite simple to get as good results
as most pharmacy type labs deliver with equipment
you probably already own, allowing for a better
thermometer and more focussed mind the first few times;
protect your hands if you are chemical sensitive.
Just follow the instructions and don't drink the solutions ...  ;+)~

I guarantee you'll be elated the very first time !
Andre Jean Quintal