I enjoy black & white as well as color photography. Usually I can make a decision whether my subject is a black and white or color subject. One way of making that type of decision is to evaluate your image by asking the question is color or tone a dominant theme of the subject. I love the way
Ansel Adams captures all of those gray tones in his black & white images. A good way to know if you have the best tonality you possible can get is to look at your image and see if you have absolute black and absolute white with many grays in between.
My favorite color photographer is
Jay Maisel. His use of color in his images causes the viewers to look at color in a new a interesting way. What is a successful color photograph? Can this image keep your attention without the color? If no is the answer do not hesitate, go for color.
Let's get back to the image at hand. I kind of threw out the rules on this image. I had to have the red barn but I knew the giant thunder head behind the barn would look much better in black & white. With
Photoshop I was able to get my cake and eat it too. I know it does not seem fair. It is kind of like using photo steroids but as an artist you can set your own rules. I wonder how many painters use blue for their sky when it was really gray at the time they were painting. It is a brave new world for photographers. Don't be afraid!
LynnFreeny.com
Back roads have interesting subjects and lots of curves. The combination of a beautiful Victorian house and interesting clouds in the evening light made this subject worth the drive. Using the red channel only and converting the image to gray scale gave me the same effect as a number 25 red filter with black and white film.LynnFreeny.com
When shooting sunsets always remember to wait until the the show is over. How long should you stay? Until the light is gone from the sky. This group of small clouds floated high enough to reflect the very warm red produced by the sun after it had long since disappeared from the scene. The contrast between the blue sky and red clouds makes the colors really pop. LynnFreeny.com
On our way back today from playing in the river in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park the sky suddenly caught my eye. It was so interesting everybody in the car was saying "Hurry hurry you are going to miss it" as I pulled over to a safe place. Using a 300 mm lens I took a few shots then the sun disappeared behind the huge thunderheads never to be seen again this evening. What really helps in high pressure times like this is a total familiarity with your equipment so you can react more intuitively and not get slowed down by the technical end.
They just don't build houses like this anymore. Victorian houses have a special personality that rivals other styles. Finding this beauty on a steep hill in Morgantown was wonderful. Having a camera to capture it and bring it home with me was priceless. When I first looked at it through my lens I noticed a large cloud formation moving toward the house. I waited until the clouds floated into a position that complimented the rest of the composition. Using a 25 red filter with black & white film made the blue sky dark to create that Ansel Adams looking sky. In digital the same effect is possible by taking an RGB color file in Adobe Photoshop and eliminating all channels except the red channel. lynnfreeny.com
