I decided to play around with my images so far to see if there was a way to improve them. In the past I have experimented with my images in a more intense way, so I decided to edit the images more subtly this time, as perhaps I'll like the outcome more. So I decided to simply change the images from colour to black and white. I did this as to see if it had a more classic intensity, as of course the first film types were black and white. This in my mind would give a more classic look.
It also may simplify the images as there's less colours to focus on.
My last reason for trying this edit was to give the images a sense of consistency. I have tried to use very similar filters and tones on my images however I feel that if they were all in black and white they would perhaps fit in better with each other?
To do these edits I simply used the images I already had and lowered the saturation right down.
Here's a before and after on one of the images that I turned into black and white. In this case I think I prefer the image in colour. While the black and white image brings attention to the tones in the image and perhaps gives a more documentary type feeling to the image. I feel as if the black and white image is a little more flat, perhaps because it doesn't have the colour to make it pop against the dark flooring. I also believe when converted to black and white it loses the cinematic feel. Of course this is due to the colour toning being erased. It still feels dramatic because of the lighting, however I feel that the toning is really what gave it that cinematic, set up feeling to it, which I believe makes the images more beautiful and so in these black and white versions they, to me, lose part of their beauty.
I actually think that this image is strong in black and white. It still has a dramatic intensity, despite not having the colour toning in there. I think this is because this image has a lot of contrast despite having no colour. The contrast in colour in the first image of the food on the floor is what made that so powerful, yet I think this really works well in black and white.
I do think that in the colour image the textures are more prominent because of the different colour tones. This is evident in the snap in the crayon with the paper around it and the crayon body.
The image feel a bit more sad and lifeless, which perhaps makes up for the drama lost in the cinematic toning because it causes dramatic emotions in a different way.
I actually think that this image works better in black and white than colour. While I do really like the colour version because of the green tones creating this dramatised look, I think the black and white version feels much more clean, well contrasted, and doesn't look to wrong from reality because the charger is actually white and there wasn't much colour in the image anyway, I just toned it to match the others.
As one of the reasons I decided to try these edits is because I thought they'd look more consistent, I thought it was only wise to see them all together in black and white vs in colour. I chose 9 of my favourite photos and put them in a grid as i'm thinking about displaying them.
After looking at both of these grids, I can confirm that the black and white images have more consistency, however I don't think that it helps the series at all. The images seem to just blend in with each other too much and don't seem to stand alone as single images as well as all together, which I think is important in a series of work.
The layout of this isn't final at all it was just to see how the images worked together. With the colour images each image is strong in its own right, and although they're not all shot the same or have the exact same colour tones, I feel that when organised properly this will work a lot better, too. The images just feel more individual and makes me at least want to study each image individually as well as a whole, whereas the black and white images just feel like one image that doesn't need as much attention.
I also really like how cinematic the whole series looks with the colour images, which is important to me because I am looking for that over dramatised, movie feeling.
In conclusion, although I did like some of the images in black and white, I feel that the colour images are still stronger, particularly as a series, and I it's likely that I will resume with my plan to have the images in colour.
It also may simplify the images as there's less colours to focus on.
My last reason for trying this edit was to give the images a sense of consistency. I have tried to use very similar filters and tones on my images however I feel that if they were all in black and white they would perhaps fit in better with each other?
To do these edits I simply used the images I already had and lowered the saturation right down.
Here's a before and after on one of the images that I turned into black and white. In this case I think I prefer the image in colour. While the black and white image brings attention to the tones in the image and perhaps gives a more documentary type feeling to the image. I feel as if the black and white image is a little more flat, perhaps because it doesn't have the colour to make it pop against the dark flooring. I also believe when converted to black and white it loses the cinematic feel. Of course this is due to the colour toning being erased. It still feels dramatic because of the lighting, however I feel that the toning is really what gave it that cinematic, set up feeling to it, which I believe makes the images more beautiful and so in these black and white versions they, to me, lose part of their beauty.
I actually think that this image is strong in black and white. It still has a dramatic intensity, despite not having the colour toning in there. I think this is because this image has a lot of contrast despite having no colour. The contrast in colour in the first image of the food on the floor is what made that so powerful, yet I think this really works well in black and white.
I do think that in the colour image the textures are more prominent because of the different colour tones. This is evident in the snap in the crayon with the paper around it and the crayon body.
The image feel a bit more sad and lifeless, which perhaps makes up for the drama lost in the cinematic toning because it causes dramatic emotions in a different way.
I actually think that this image works better in black and white than colour. While I do really like the colour version because of the green tones creating this dramatised look, I think the black and white version feels much more clean, well contrasted, and doesn't look to wrong from reality because the charger is actually white and there wasn't much colour in the image anyway, I just toned it to match the others.
As one of the reasons I decided to try these edits is because I thought they'd look more consistent, I thought it was only wise to see them all together in black and white vs in colour. I chose 9 of my favourite photos and put them in a grid as i'm thinking about displaying them.
After looking at both of these grids, I can confirm that the black and white images have more consistency, however I don't think that it helps the series at all. The images seem to just blend in with each other too much and don't seem to stand alone as single images as well as all together, which I think is important in a series of work.
The layout of this isn't final at all it was just to see how the images worked together. With the colour images each image is strong in its own right, and although they're not all shot the same or have the exact same colour tones, I feel that when organised properly this will work a lot better, too. The images just feel more individual and makes me at least want to study each image individually as well as a whole, whereas the black and white images just feel like one image that doesn't need as much attention.
I also really like how cinematic the whole series looks with the colour images, which is important to me because I am looking for that over dramatised, movie feeling.
In conclusion, although I did like some of the images in black and white, I feel that the colour images are still stronger, particularly as a series, and I it's likely that I will resume with my plan to have the images in colour.
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