For What We Are About to Receive

[John2]

Sitting in the garden with a coffee during the last of the good weather, I noticed that one of our bird boxes was inhabited. We normally get Blue Tits but this year for the first time it was a Great Tit pair toing and froing. I had my small Sony handy (1" sensor) and after they had got used to me sitting near them I managed to capture this. I didn't see the bonus of the little beak inside the box hole until I uploaded the file. Not really a mono subject I know. Thought it worth posting though.

 

[Glenn]

Strong subject, nicely composed. What's not to like?

But you raise an interesting question, which I might rephrase as "is there such a thing as a mono subject"? As someone raised when most published material was in black and white with the exception of the Sunday Colour Supplement, I would really like the answer to be no.

 

[John2]

I think there are images that don't translate to mono very effectively. In this case I was referring to the fact that you need colour to ID the bird for instance. However, there are images that rely on a colour pallet for effect which when converted to grey scale, lose definition and hence impact because the colours may be different but they translate to very similar shades of grey when converted. You can compensate to a degree in PS but it doesn't always look natural. Incidentally, the reverse can be true. I have come across colour images that fail to impress in colour but gain in conversion.

 

[Glenn]

I think there are images that don't translate to mono very effectively.

Yes but, for me at least, the same applies to colour in that many, dare I say most, images I take are simply mediocre. I think we curate our photographs, choosing only the best of them to share. Some work better as monochrome or better as colour, some work as both but differently from each other depending on which we choose. As you have said.

I don't think it is subject related though. To quote the old song, "T'aint what you do but the way that you do it."

 

[John2]

I don't think it is subject related though. To quote the old song, "T'aint what you do but the way that you do it."

Not as a generality I agree Glenn but for instance architecture can be more effective in mono.

 

[Glenn]

Yes, I agree, there are some cracking architectural mono shots that wouldn't have the same impact in colour, but I quite like Nick Carver's colour architectural shots taken at sunrise or sunset. There is definitely an art to making either mode work convincingly.

 

[John2]

Might be worth going back to the image if anyone has further comments?