Color Me Undecided!

Years ago when you took classes in photography, 9 times out of 10 they involved not only learning to take photographs but developing them as well.  You went into dark rooms and swirled film in baths of chemicals and then took them into another room with contraptions that looked a little like overgrown microscopes, but were actually the device necessary to print your photos.  I have to admit that I never liked doing that part of it, which will seem strange to most people who took those classes just so they could learn to do that.  I can't explain it, but it seemed tedious and a little lonely to me.  I am a people person and like, as I have said before, taking people pictures.  I think that is mostly because of the interaction.  Not that I don't appreciate good scenic or architectural photos.

I won't get in too deep here, but you've heard about f-stops, right?  Well the f-stop among other attributes mainly controls how much light gets to the "film" and whether or not the details are properly exposed.  That means the right f-stop will get the maximum variations of light in the picture properly exposed, from the brightest white to the blackest black.  The human eye can detect 24 distinct stops/variations of light in a typical daylight scene.  Now when film was in use, color film could only capture about nine (9) of those variations, so that explains why you might get frustrated trying to capture a beautiful scene.   Black and white film however got around fifteen (15) so people used it for presenting beautiful detail in a scene.  Now, if I haven't lost you, I will tell you that essentially there is no difference any more in digital.  You take the picture in a digital format and the quality of the camera is what determines what you capture rather than the variations in light you can accomplish.

So, it comes down to mood, really.  Black and white can seem more dramatic in some instances, more elegant in others, but in low contrast lighting (think cloudy day) it can just seem moody and that may not be what you want exactly.  But aren't we lucky that now instead of shooting two types of film, you can now take one picture and with software can change the color to black and white or make one image of each.

Okay, so I am person who LOVES color.  My daughter says our house makes her a little nervous with its bright colors and my ex-husband used to say I dressed like a pro-golfer if you remember how they used to wear yellow pants and the like.  I love neutral rooms when I see them in a magazine, they look so restful and peaceful, but when I turn the page and see bright color washed over every surface, I can't help but ooh and ahh.

But, bottom line is I can't decide even after I make a copy of a picture in both color and black and white, which one I like best.  I can understand there is a different mood about them, but I can't put my finger on it or express the difference I see in words.

How about you?  What do you like the best or are you like me and like both?  Here are two sets of pictures to look at and see if you can decide!

So, if you DO have a preference, please tell me what it is and tell me why that is.  It may not help me make up my mind, but will certainly give me some more factors to ponder.  I promise if you stuck with me to the end of today's post that I will try not to write so much, and give you more pictures.  But, as with all things that take up way too much space in my brain, I had to talk about it!