Hi Gang, I recently had a few hours to kill in L.A. so I headed down to Venice Beach. Next week I’ll post and discuss some of the street photography I did and this week I want to post some of the miscellaneous things I shot.
I’m starting with the last photo I took and working backwards. This image is of the Venice pier and I’m using it to set up a discussion on Wednesday about a different shot of the pier. On a technical note, I used my my Canon 580EX camera flash, hand-held and manually fired 4 times, to light the underside of the pier.
Technical: Canon 1Ds II, 24-70mm lens, screw-on Singh Ray Warming Polarizer, f/14, ISO100, 30 second exposure, tripod.
Color is a unique subject in an image. It can enhance or detract from other subjects. I’m curious to know which you prefer, the color or black/white version, and why?
Related posts:
10 Comments
I’m voting for the color version. Why? I think because the central light and “legs” lead me to anthropomorphize this structure, and the warmer tones support that interpretation. Kind of a natural history scene out of Wall-E.
Can you say more about why you chose the warming polarizer? To get rid of reflections? to increase depth of field? to increase contrast? Could you have achieved the same results with a blue/gold filter?
Hi Amy,
Thank you for being here. I chose the polarizer, first and foremost, because I wanted to get to a slower shutter speed earlier in the twilight…its all I had and knew it would cut several stops out (about 2 or a little more). So, I could get to 30 seconds instead of 7ish.
I didn’t shoot any comparisons, so I don’t know how much polarizing effect I was getting. I do remember spinning the filter and not seeing a huge effect, and I would have been surprised if there was. As I look at the image now I suspect there is a little taking place? probably got more warming effect than polarization.
Hey Alec,
I also seem more drawn toward the color version. To me it’s maybe even more eerie or artistic than the B/W version, given the unusual coloring of the lights, the water and the pier itself.
Just a non-photographer’s take on it.
Andy S.
Andy S.,
There is no right or wrong answer, there is no photographer vs. non-photographer validity. There is just your experience with it. THANK YOU for being here and building an amazing web site!
Alec,
I prefer the black and white image. I like the tonal range, it seems to be a bit larger than the range of colors. I am doing everything B/W right now so my opinion maybe bias. I really like the subject matter, good way to kill a few hours.
Travis
AJ,
I far prefer the black and white. I agree with Travis, the tonal range is amazing. the effects in the water remind me of the dinoflagellates (microscopic algae) that I experienced in Costa Rica that made the surf glow when it crashed into the beach. Piers are such an interesting subject. Thank you for sharing.
KG
Hi KG,
Thanks for the post. Its interesting to see how people experience the image differently. I think that’s what makes photography so fun.
THANK YOU for being here.
aLEc
Saw this yesterday and meant to comment then … I’m with the b/w folks. Completely. I love this in black and white.
I absolutely love the black and white version. I found the color version distracting, whereas the b/w image was a very clean simple image. For me, the b/w was an A+, where the color is a B. I love the shapes on the pier and the lens flare in black and white, but found those same shapes interfering with my view in the color version. Great shot!
Hi Aaron, thanks for stopping by. I haven't really weighed in on this issue. So I will now. I too prefer the BW without hesitation, and you articulated why very well. Color is its own subject matter and can compete with other messages/subjects in an image.
Thanks again for being here. Come back again soon!
Cheers,
Alec Johnson
One Trackback
[...] E X P E R I E N C E » Blog Archive » city Beach Series #1 [...]