B/W Macros, A New Frontier for an Old Medium...?

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Tue May 22, 2007 5:36 pm

Well could be, I'm not quite sure yet.

However from some of the responses I have gotten here on our forums of late, it does look promising.

In a couple of other forums, my images were met with a bit less enthusiasm. It is said that, "a prophet is not without honor, except among his own." I often wondered if that could be said of photographers? Apparantly not or not at least in this forum. Some of the responses I have recieved are quite encouraging, thanks everyone.

Okay, so...I submitt another image in b/w and old favorite of us all, ants.
Now I have this image in color, though it is a bit dark and I really need a ring flash for getting in close like this or a bracket for my 430EX, to get it out from behind the lens. The 100mm f/2.8 Canon macro is quite large. This image is a conversion from the color shot, because I did not like the the color image turning out as dark as it did, plus the gross amount of unwanted "green." By pulling down the blue channel at bit and lightening this and contrasting that and then finally the sharpening, which is just a tad over I think. I managed this b/w image.

What strikes me here the most is the legs of the ant. I get the impression of space or an outreaching of the tiny insect, a feeling of being alert, with the ability to move quickly should danger present itself. Do I get the same impression from the color image bathed in green

Well...follow on down. By the way, doesn't the ant seem to draw more attention in the b/w image than in the color? I seem to think so.

EOS 30D
Manual mode/hand held
1/125 sec. @ f/5.6 ISO 100
EF-100mm f/2.8 Canon macro
430EX Speedlite @ -1/3

I will let you decide. Like I said earlier in another post, I am not a "mainstream" person but I do sometimes like to make a small wave or maybe two.

microcollector · Post by **microcollector** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:03 pm

Ken,

I, for one, appreciate your black and white work. I grew up on black and white photography. My dad let me use his pre WWII Zeiss Ikon 120 camera and we did our own developing and printing. I still have the camera and if I could find film locally, it would still take good pictures provided I remembered to cock the shutter. With no built in light meter, I got used to setting exposures without resorting to a handheld meter. I found that shooting black and white to be more challanging than shooting color. For minerals, color is the only way to go as too much is lost in black and white. I may have to follow your lead and try some digital black and white pjhotography.

Doug M

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:58 pm

Ken,

1) I agree, the B&W is oversharpened.

2) I also agree that the B&W does a better job of calling attention to the ant. I'm not quite sure why this is. I played with your images, and I think the difference is that I'm willing to push the leaf brighter in B&W than I am in color. That contrasts more against the dark ant. What I ended up with looks strikingly similar to yours.

These are interesting images. Keep up the good work.

--Rik

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Wed May 23, 2007 3:01 am

DougM wrote:

I still have the camera and if I could find film locally, it would still take good pictures provided I remembered to cock the shutter.

Well it may not be local but B&H Photo carries the camera in a 35mm format and I do believe they also carry the 120 roll film. They have a wide range of films not normally carried by most camera shops these days, especially since we now have digital. I used to have a Mamiya 630 TLR, with interchangeable lenses, many years ago, with a very large Sunpak Strobe, that used 120. Unfortunately, that camera got stolen and I hope the one who commit the deed had his fingers broken and mangled for it!

You know in some countries they cut your hands off for doing such things.

Rik, DougM. Thanks for the comments guys!

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Wed May 23, 2007 8:30 am

I would have to say the B&W works better here. The post processing has make the ant stick out more from the leaf, very 3D looking IMO.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Wed May 23, 2007 5:14 pm

Thanks Doug

cactuspic · Post by **cactuspic** » Thu May 24, 2007 2:44 pm

I like the black and white better because that the color conveys little in this image. The subject is not colorful. The primary coloration comes from the backround. The color image is primarily monochromatic.

Irwin