[SI] Monochrome Commentary

Time for more amazingly uninsightful commentary on the latest shoot-in;
Monochrome. Our heroes, for this round, were challenged to shoot color
pictures that were very monochrome in tone, and challenged to include an
object that proved it was a color picture. The usual caveats apply to any
comments I make on someone else's work; I have no idea what I'm talking
about, so take it all with huge grains of salt, pepper, or curry.

Better turnout this time, and some good examples of the mandate. Here we go:

Solomon Peachy: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73110164
It's a pretty flat looking shot, but I think there's actually too many
different colors present to call this monochrome. It's close, but not quite
monochrome for me, since I live my life on the edge. Not. The inclusion of a
small yellow flower is a nice touch, and does break up the monotony of the
shot, and all submittors were promised bonus "points" for including such an
item. So Solomon has that going for him. C+

Douglas: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73110177
Hell, Douglas, this IS a monochrome shot! Don't get me wrong, I like the
shot, but would have preffered it if it were actually color, or desaturated
with just one of the flowers in color. It's monochrome, but is not a perfect
fit for the mandate, since I believe that the idea was to shoot something in
color that could be mistaken for a monochrome shot. But it's a very nice
shot of the bride. C+

Doug Payne: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73110331
Now this is a color/monochrome shot! No, there's no tell-tale element of
color, other than the very subtle knot, but you can tell that this is a
color pic that simply looks like a one-color shot due to the subtle shadings
of color on the wood (very subtle). The carving/petroglyph is nicely
anchoring the shot and leads the eye towards the lower right corner of the
image, the lighting is angled to show the texture of the wood, and exposure
is in the money. Nice job. B+

Bowser (mine): http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73110553
Yes, I know. What a waste of a 5D. But the shot is very monochrome, and if
you didn't have the small colored shingles on the right side of the image,
it would look pretty B&W. The composition is typical Bowser, for better or
worse. It does meet the mandate, though, and includes the colored item. B

Michelo: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73110598
Good God, did you desaturate that leaf, or is it that bland and flat? Nice
job! If not for the yellowish (insert proper name for organic matter) stuff,
it would indeed look very monochrome. I think I would have preffered a
little more side lighting, but it's likely that the very flat lighting
contributed to the very flat look of the stone and leaf. B+

Jim Kramer: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73110722
Ah, a monochrome image that is not gray, but shades of brown. Fits the
mandate well, even though the brown tones obviously indicate a color image.
It also includes a nice red dog tongue which proves that the shot is
multi-colored, and gains very valuable bonus points. However, there are some
shades of green and black, so it's not totally monochrome. But I like dogs.
B-

Walter Banks: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73153601
What a perfect shot for this mandate! I love it! The scene is obviously a
full-color shot, but seems to be a very flat black and white shot. Yes, I
see the slight intrusion of shades of brown on the rocks and trees, but at
first glance you eyes are not drawn to it, and until you see the prominent
yellow sign, you could easily mistake this for a monochrome shot. Nice job!
A

Duncan Chesley: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73159817
I was wondering if anyone would take this route, and submit a night shot,
like a starry sky with a plane in flight. No question, this shot looks
totally monochrome. I wish I knew what I was looking at, however. I see the
sky, treeline, and something in the foreground that I can't make out. My
issue, I guess. Fits the mandate very well, but not as spectacular as some
of the other shots. B-

Mardon: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73159831
My other favorite shot in this group. A black vehicle in the snow. No color,
nothing except for signal and tali lights on the vehicle. Excellent! I know
this isn't an artistic composition, but for this mandate, it's perfect.
Desaturate the running lights and you've got a monochrome image, for sure.
Plus, I like Xterras. I just wish they got better gas mileage. But that's
not important here. Mardon, where is Outer Cove? I was in NF a few years ago
hiking, and I'm just curious. A

Fire away...

"Kinon O'Cann" wrote:

Mardon: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73159831
My other favorite shot in this group. A black vehicle in the snow. No
color, nothing except for signal and tali lights on the vehicle.
Excellent! I know this isn't an artistic composition, but for this
mandate, it's perfect. Desaturate the running lights and you've got a
monochrome image, for sure. Plus, I like Xterras. I just wish they got
better gas mileage. But that's not important here. Mardon, where is
Outer Cove? I was in NF a few years ago hiking, and I'm just curious.
A

Whoa! I wish I'd had you for a Prof in university many, many years ago.
Thanks!

Put these coordinates into Google Earth and you'll see exactly where our
Xterra was parked.
47.653409N 52.685172W
The camera was looking southeast.

I like the Xterra too. It's supercharged, which is also good; everywhere
except at the gas pumps. We average 15 liters per 100 Km.

Kinon O'Cann wrote:

Jim Kramer: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73110722
Ah, a monochrome image that is not gray, but shades of brown. Fits the
mandate well, even though the brown tones obviously indicate a color image.
It also includes a nice red dog tongue which proves that the shot is
multi-colored, and gains very valuable bonus points. However, there are some
shades of green and black, so it's not totally monochrome. But I like dogs.
B-


Four days ago I was thinking that this would be one of the last
pictures I would ever have of this dog. Fortunately $5,500 can fix
almost anything, except a whole in your wallet.

This was set up as a B&W Jpeg shot that had the RAW on too. I like it
better as a B&W but this is in color and that kinda fits the mandate.

Thanks for commenting,
Jim

: Douglas: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73110177
: Hell, Douglas, this IS a monochrome shot! Don't get me wrong, I like the
: shot, but would have preferred it if it were actually color, or
desiderated
: with just one of the flowers in color. It's monochrome, but is not a
perfect
: fit for the mandate, since I believe that the idea was to shoot something
in
: color that could be mistaken for a monochrome shot. But it's a very nice
: shot of the bride. C+
---------------------------

The really difficult part about submitting an image to a (insert
description) when the mandate is "Monochrome" without a description of the
mandate accompanying it until a day after you make your submission... Is
(insert whatever comes to mind).

In hindsight (Why are there no ears on our hips) I would have submitted this
shot:
http://www.photosbydouglas.com/colorchrome.jpg
But then if I'd known I would fall off my perch, I'd never have built a hide
in a tree either!

For those uninformed... I fell out of a tree whilst shooting the birth of
thousands of baby pelicans when one irate bird noticed me and attacked!
--

Australian Wedding Photography between Kempsy, NSW and Sunshine Coast.
http://www.photosbydouglas.com
Digital photos enlarged and printed on Canvas
http://canvas.photosbydouglas.com

Kinon O'Cann wrote:
It's a pretty flat looking shot, but I think there's actually too many
different colors present to call this monochrome. It's close, but not
quite monochrome for me, since I live my life on the edge. Not. The
inclusion of a small yellow flower is a nice touch, and does break up
the monotony of the shot, and all submittors were promised bonus
"points" for including such an item. So Solomon has that going for
him. C+

The flower was the point of the image, but I didn't achieve what I was
trying to do. I coincidentally discovered the mandate a couple of days
later, so in the end I kept an otherwise lousy image and submitted it
instead of just relegating it to /dev/null.

If I were to submit something I already had taken, this would have been
a much better choice:

http://www.shaftnet.org/po/photo.php?photo=22401

- Solomon

Kinon O'Cann wrote:

Time for more amazingly uninsightful commentary on the latest shoot-in;
Monochrome. Our heroes, for this round, were challenged to shoot color
pictures that were very monochrome in tone, and challenged to include an
object that proved it was a color picture. The usual caveats apply to any
comments I make on someone else's work; I have no idea what I'm talking
about, so take it all with huge grains of salt, pepper, or curry.

Walter Banks: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73153601
What a perfect shot for this mandate! I love it! The scene is obviously a
full-color shot, but seems to be a very flat black and white shot. Yes, I
see the slight intrusion of shades of brown on the rocks and trees, but at
first glance you eyes are not drawn to it, and until you see the prominent
yellow sign, you could easily mistake this for a monochrome shot. Nice job!
A

Thanks for the kind comments. I wished that I could say that I planned
long and hard for this shot as a candidate for this mandate. On a gray
day with a light dusting of snow I was exploring around with my nephew
and spouse and we stopped at the flume. It had rained for much of the
previous two weeks so the water was running at spring volume. This is
at the bottom of an escapment where water cascades down for about
120 feet from a lake. (Transportation for logs) I was playing with
shutter speed to see the effects on the rushing water unaware of the
no hiking sign until I got home.

Processing was limited to resizing and lightening. (No color changes)

This not the first time I have used the flume for SI. The follow image is
part of the same waterway that was dug out and straightened to allow
logs to driven over the escarpment.

http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/47810873

w..

On 17/01/2007 7:36 PM, Kinon O'Cann wrote:

Doug Payne: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73110331
Now this is a color/monochrome shot! No, there's no tell-tale element of
color, other than the very subtle knot, but you can tell that this is a
color pic that simply looks like a one-color shot due to the subtle shadings
of color on the wood (very subtle). The carving/petroglyph is nicely
anchoring the shot and leads the eye towards the lower right corner of the
image, the lighting is angled to show the texture of the wood, and exposure
is in the money. Nice job. B+

Thanks, Bowser. It was shot inside an old trapper's log hut about 8x8'
with a sod roof and no windows. The slight blue tinge is a reflection of
the blue sky coming through the open door. Other than resize for Web,
all I did was a touch of curves and a bit of smart sharpening.

"Kinon O'Cann" wrote in message
news:7izrh.4353$dV1.4243@trndny02...

Michelo: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73110598
Good God, did you desaturate that leaf, or is it that bland and flat? Nice
job! If not for the yellowish (insert proper name for organic matter)
stuff, it would indeed look very monochrome. I think I would have
preffered a little more side lighting, but it's likely that the very flat
lighting contributed to the very flat look of the stone and leaf. B+


All the leaves have been on the ground for four months. Actually, I did
autocolor in photoshop and it boosted the colors and contrast.



For the lighting angle, the subject was on a big rock and I could not wait
for the sun to move because the clouds were coming in to drop 20 cm of
snows.



Michel

Douglas wrote:

In hindsight (Why are there no ears on our hips) I would have submitted this
shot:
http://www.photosbydouglas.com/colorchrome.jpg
But then if I'd known I would fall off my perch, I'd never have built a hide
in a tree either!

Nice, they have their pecking order sorted.

w..

"Mardon" wrote in message
. 130...
"Kinon O'Cann" wrote:

Mardon: http://www.pbase.com/shootin/image/73159831
My other favorite shot in this group. A black vehicle in the snow. No
color, nothing except for signal and tali lights on the vehicle.
Excellent! I know this isn't an artistic composition, but for this
mandate, it's perfect. Desaturate the running lights and you've got a
monochrome image, for sure. Plus, I like Xterras. I just wish they got
better gas mileage. But that's not important here. Mardon, where is
Outer Cove? I was in NF a few years ago hiking, and I'm just curious.
A

Whoa! I wish I'd had you for a Prof in university many, many years ago.
Thanks!

Hell, it does fit the mandate perfectly...


Put these coordinates into Google Earth and you'll see exactly where our
Xterra was parked.
47.653409N 52.685172W
The camera was looking southeast.

I like the Xterra too. It's supercharged, which is also good; everywhere
except at the gas pumps. We average 15 liters per 100 Km.