Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/01/04

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Subject: [Leica] What are the most important aspects of a photographic image?
From: richard at imagecraft.com (Richard Man)
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 12:29:35 -0800
References: <B9CB5FCC-80C0-464C-8D85-18A3C4C09B20@gmail.com> <139422.56031.qm@web52807.mail.re2.yahoo.com>

On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 10:31 AM, R. Clayton McKee <rcmphoto at 
yahoo.com>wrote:

>
>
> Because aside from a personal aesthetic choice by the photographer, there's
> no longer any reason why the default for an image SHOULD be B&W.
>
> The majority of the population DOES see color, and in terms of publication
> the B&W image was most likely initially captured as a color version.  So
> there's absolutely no reason to consider the use of color as anything 
> except
> another tool in the photographic box.
>
>
No disagreement here.


> Every week we see dozen of photographs come through the saloon... ordinary
> photographs of ordinary people doing ordinary things, elevated to the 
> status
> of extraordinary because the person behind the camera was able to use the
> light, or the contrast, or the composition of the photo, or the HDR
> capability of digital imaging, to make those shots into something more.
> Probably 95% of those shots, if we took away the tool upon which they
> depend for their impact, would not be worth a first look, never mind a
> second.
>
>
Exactly the point I am making too. Sure, they look wow and can make a short
term impact.

Now try to recall them 6 months later, or 6 years, or 20.

All those nice pop-up HDR impactful color images? Fade away from memory,
like dust, unless it is a nice image by itself.

Of today's photograph, many are relying on colors and techniques to create
the impact. They are like sugar cookies. Nom nom yum yum, but don't last
long.


> Why is it any LESS legitimate to allow the use of color as simply another
> of those tools for creating effective photos?
>
>
No one says that.

Sure we see in colors. I dream in colors (I didn't think it was unusual
until the subject comes up that some people do not dream in colors...)

Think of the classical paintings. The Mona Lisa, the Michaelangelo's. etc.
the image itself is the one that sticks in my mind, may be the general color
scheme or some key colors.

But the image stands alone. May be it's the eyes, or the general shape, or
the feeling it invokes.


> R. Clayton McKee
> PhotoJournalist
> from somewhere just south of somewhere else...
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>



-- 
// richard <http://www.imagecraft.com/>
// icc blog: <http://imagecraft.com/blog/>
// photo blog: <http://www.5pmlight.com>
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Replies: Reply from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] What are the most important aspects of a photographic image?)
Reply from benedenia at gmail.com (Marty Deveney) ([Leica] What are the most important aspects of a photographic image?)
In reply to: Message from steve.barbour at gmail.com (Steve Barbour) ([Leica] What are the most important aspects of a photographic image?)
Message from rcmphoto at yahoo.com (R. Clayton McKee) ([Leica] What are the most important aspects of a photographic image?)