Black and white or color-vote

[Laura]

I ran off to the Grand Canyon on the spur of the moment because the forecast was 70% chance of thunderstorms. What I got was rainy drizzle that made it seem like the Grand Canyon had been moved to Seattle. Most of the time I couldn't even see it, it was enshrouded in fog. Nothing to do except take moody, layered shots. So should I make this shot color or black and white?






Oh yes, I did see one amazing thunderstorm-as I was leaving the park!

 

[Brimstone]

If you adjust the color a little, the foreground will pop out. I hope you don't mind me messing with your picture, but this is what I was thinking...

 

[Laura]

If you adjust the color a little, the foreground will pop out. I hope you don't mind me messing with your picture, but this is what I was thinking...

Mess with it all you want! I like it a lot better, thanks! What did you process this in?

 

[Brimstone]

Photoshop

 

[Nick]

I like the B&W but I think it might be fun to play with it a bit more with B&W in mind. Namely giving the clouds a bit more drama and definition which was lost a bit from the color version. Have you tried Nik Silver Efex? GOOD stuff for doing B&W conversion.

 

[Laura]

I like the B&W but I think it might be fun to play with it a bit more with B&W in mind. Namely giving the clouds a bit more drama and definition which was lost a bit from the color version. Have you tried Nik Silver Efex? GOOD stuff for doing B&W conversion.

No, don't have it but I love what it does. I may have to get it. As you can see, I throw financial responsibility out the window when there's something I want, or want to do.

 

[Laura]

Okay, I reworked it in Aperture last night, which I don't how to use, but I took everyone's suggestions and super-saturated the colors and added a red filter. I like the overall result better, but I got some really bad checker boarding once I added the filter:



Any idea why this is happening? Turning down the saturation doesn't help.

 

[gnwatts]

That is a problem with Aperture. The "checker boarding" is the software's inability to deal with the red filter, particularly when you apply it to a blue color.
One way to deal with that is to apply an orange or yellow filter (not red), and you will not get the mottling. Then you can burn in the dark clouds with a brush if desired. Then hit it with a little contrast!
Or you can stay with the red filter and back off on the blue saturation, which should get rid of the mottling.
Don't use the "saturation" slider. Use the individual color adjustments (Temperature & Tint) with individual sliders for red, yellow, green, cyan, blue and magenta. This gives you more control over individual colors (and the corresponding B&W result).
You can also change the white balance of the file from more blue to red, which will lighten the photo if you are using a red, orange or yellow filter.
Or try a green filter!
I usually try a number of different strategies to get the desired look. Trial and error. A lot of error, and experimentation.
I hope this makes sense.

 

[andyjaggy]

With these types of overcast conditions I generally think black and white works better. In photoshop try converting to black and white using the channel mixer, and adjusting the different RGB sliders until you get a result you like. It works similar to how colored filters work with B&W film.

 

[Laura]

That is a problem with Aperture. The "checker boarding" is the software's inability to deal with the red filter, particularly when you apply it to a blue color.
One way to deal with that is to apply an orange or yellow filter (not red), and you will not get the mottling. Then you can burn in the dark clouds with a brush if desired. Then hit it with a little contrast!
Or you can stay with the red filter and back off on the blue saturation, which should get rid of the mottling.
Don't use the "saturation" slider. Use the individual color adjustments (Temperature & Tint) with individual sliders for red, yellow, green, cyan, blue and magenta. This gives you more control over individual colors (and the corresponding B&W result).
You can also change the white balance of the file from more blue to red, which will lighten the photo if you are using a red, orange or yellow filter.
Or try a green filter!
I usually try a number of different strategies to get the desired look. Trial and error. A lot of error, and experimentation.
I hope this makes sense.

It does, thanks! I did a few different versions last night. Here's the green filter:



I think a little more contrast is needed. So far I liked the orange filter best. Will process again without using the saturation slider.

 

[andyjaggy]

Foreground looks good, I would try to get a little more contrast into the clouds.

 

[Laura]

More contrast in clouds as suggested-thanks Andy. It's definitely moody.

 

[SirDonB]

I liked both, but I have always been partical towards B&W just because you dont see it used as much anymore these days.

 

[Vegan.Hiker]

I like the B&W better too. I know nothing, but I liked it better before you added the contrast to the clouds. Before you added the contrast my eye was drawn way out into the distance giving the feeling of staring out into a vast mysterious land. After the contrast was added I felt like my eye was drawn to the dark clouds directly above instead of out into the distance. Just my very un-informed 2 cents.

 

[Laura]

Just my very un-informed 2 cents.

There's no such thing as uninformed when it comes to reacting to a photo. You respond to certain things and others you don't, and everyone is different. I love hearing what people like and what they don't in my pictures because it's so unique to each person. Thanks for the feedback!