Black and white

This black and white exercise required choosing a subject, lighting condition or picture situation that would look better in black and white than colour. The starting point was a colour image; the black and white version being produced during processing. I found this exercise a tricky one as I came to it with pre conceived ideas as to what might make a good subject.
Thinking about the play of light on water and the textural element of trees/ vegetation etc. I spent some time at Swanbourne Lake in Arundel. My eye was drawn by a dilapidated boathouse which offered shape and texture with the peeling paint and graffiti adding some visual interest. The end result taken in colour was disappointing ..perhaps the play of  light was not as good as I had expected; certainly I could see that the image lacked sufficient volume to present a good subject for conversion into black and white. Processing the image confirmed my post capture thoughts.

I then decided to look for images that could offer more shape, texture and volume which led me to explore the possibilities of the steam collection at Hollycombe. This site has steam driven fairground rides, farm machinery and steam vehicles. I had in mind images of fairground 'horses' and maybe working machinery ( cogs, brass fittings, steam etc. ). I shot a series of images in colour bearing in mind my end  black and white image.

I ended up with two images that I liked in black and white.




P568: F5.6 @ 1/50 ISO 100   22mm AWB

Machinery can give volume, and shape but as I discovered can end up less interesting than expected. I realised early on that building in  a human element worked better both in providing volume but lifting the potential interest to a less specialist viewpoint and additionally adding in some movement. I cropped the colour version before processing it in black and white as I felt the need to enhance the composition.  



P569  

The black and white version has had the contrast, shadows and highlights adjusted. With hindsight I feel the composition is rather derivative and in part influenced by Chris Killip's image 'Threshing', Grenaby, Isle of Man, 1973 seen at the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize 2013 exhibition earlier this year. Looking at it again, I am less convinced that the black and white version works better than the coloured image


On balance I have opted for the second image below as my preferred version for the exercise.




P570: f8 @1/8  ISO 100  18mm  AWB

P570 was taken in the tented hall of images after a few trial shots to get the composition right regarding what could be seen in the mirrors placed around the edge of the tent. At the time I thought it would work well in black and white due the reflected light and textured volume of the tent walls.  A secondary consideration was my image on the right hand side which I thought might be less distracting and more balanced if in black and white. I also cropped a little from the right side to balance the composition.





P571 : f8 @1/8  ISO 100  18mm  AWB

I am pleased with the black and white version, I think it does work better as the eye is not distracted by the pink vertical stripes and can rest better on the curious images framed in the vertical mirrors. There is an abstract feel to composition which I enjoy.