4 And 40

Photo: © Stan Banos

So... it's been a good four years plus of shooting color after forty of exclusive B&W. What have I learned thus far? What are the distinct advantages and disadvantages of each? Which is my preferred medium?

I started shooting B&W exclusively decades ago, just as color started to become the art world darling. I then switched to (digital) color around when photography was starting to go retro with B&W and analog image making. Yes, I have impeccable timing.

I first chose B&W not because I initially preferred it so much over color, but simply because it was the only way to exercise some modicum of control (aesthetic and economic) over one's own work. The expense and practicality of custom color printing was just impractical- commercial or DIY. And I gradually came to love and respect the qualities, control and results capable with B&W (as much as I came to dislike the darkroom). Black and White is a minimalist abstraction capable of saying  and conveying so much, but it requires years of dedication and commitment, technically and aesthetically, to make less... more. Just look at the plethora of crap being cranked out these days with digital presets on a host of vlogs and videos by photodawgs and streettogs...

Nevertheless, in 2016 I purchased a used Ricoh GR on a lark. I was curious about digital, but fully expected to resell it after a few quick months (weeks?) of (non)use. It was too small, couldn't possibly yield satisfactory results, and my aging eyes couldn't possibly cope without a proper viewfinder. The year previous I had bought and returned a new Fujifilm XT-1 because I did not like the B&W results in direct sunlight (I've since repurchased the latter). But with the GR, I committed to shooting what digital does best- color. I now shoot more and get more keepers than ever- and having a blast doing so, without the tedium, space and expense of a darkroom I can no longer maintain. 

Day-glo lime green T shirt on guy at left was very distracting...          Photo: © Stan Banos

So... color yields a higher percentage of keepers!? Not... particularly. For the last four years and counting, I've been using: a different medium (color), a considerably different technology, and a different lens (28mm equivalent as opposed to 20mmFF). All the above are complementary, if not entirely equal factors working in tandem. The less extreme 28mm lens and the ease and stealth of the palm sized GR both help facilitate shooting everyday subject matter, and having the option to shoot square at the push of a button, not to mention stitch together an occasional few photos, is pure magic! When I shoot people at events, I still pull out the 21mm (equivalent) on the X-T1 for the occasion.

What then have you discerned from shooting color as opposed to B&W? Well, basically, that... it doesn't much matter as much as I thought! I still shoot the same shit, pretty much the same way. Am I aware of color more? Absolutely, and shoot for highlights as w/chrome, but it doesn't play anywhere near as dominant a role as I thought it would... least not-for-me. And that perhaps is the biggest take away. Only once thus far have I had to convert an image to B&W because of a distracting color- and I suppose I could've just gone the route of changing said color in Photoshop if I really wanted to. I had far more problems with tonal merges shooting in B&W! And so far I've welcomed the added information, reality and emotion that color provides in my closing years; it's a most welcomed change in perspective. On one shot, which fell far short of anything I even had the right to expect technically, I converted to B&W and suddenly, inexplicably (far as I'm concerned) there was amazing detail in the sky area- where none existed previously! I took full advantage of that, accentuating that detail till I got exactly what I originally wanted and dared not dream of... And those two remain the only photos I've converted to B&W!

Original color had about 40% of the detail in sky area?!?                Photo: © Stan Banos

Is there anything I wouldn't shoot in color? Probably, though I've certainly discovered that it's less than I would have previously thought. Will I ever go back to B&W film? If a particular project demanded shooting B&W in direct sunlight, quite likely- just don't see it in the near future, and I'm much more curious to try some B&W digital portraiture in open shade, of which I've seen some impressive results!

 As for now, I'm rather content on learning more about this Colorful World of Wonder...