Western Railroad Discussion > Donner in B&W... or, wait, maybe Color?

In my heart, I'm a B&W guy- it's what my heroes used and it's where I started.   But now with digital everyone knows I have a color version- so with this one I cut to the chase...  here are both.
SR

What the heck does "cut to the chase" even mean, anyway?

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SR,

If you have access to selective color handling during conversion to B&W in your software, I’d love to see a version with the yellow enhanced a bit.  B&W as shown looks great, too.

Always enjoy your efforts, thank you!
Oliver Barrett



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/21 22:58 by ShoreLineRoute.

I like the B&W version myself.
 Cut to the Chase meaning, get to the point without wasting time... that saying started with in the early film studios with silent films.Thought to be coined by Hal Roach Sr. According to Wikipedia. 
Robert in Lagrande Oregon

Needless to say B&W. Nice shot.

Robert Morris
Dunsmuir, CA
Robert Morris Photography

Great photo SR!  I think by next week this dusting shot with rocks showing through will not be possible due to much more snow coming.
Good you have new tires on the Subi

Regards, Jim Evans

 

Color shot, by a far margin.  More light, more to see.

“Cut to the Chase” means “convert to black and white as soon as possible”.

Nice shot.

Prophoto Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> “Cut to the Chase” means “convert to black
> and white as soon as possible”.
>
> Nice shot.

Ha!
SR

The composition is great.  Everything points to and highlights the train except for the sky, and that's the problem I have with the black and white version.  The train is dark and muddy, which makes a good contrast with the fog behind it, but unfortunately the bright sky above is much more attention-grabbing and that's where my eye is drawn.  The train competes for attention much better in the color version because the yellow stands out.

A lot of early silent comedies ended in a chase scene (think Keystone Cops), the most entertaining and funniest part of the film.  The plot that justified the chase was similar to the plot that justified the musical numbers in Hollywood musicals - there because it had to be, but not necessarily worthwhile in its own right.  "Cut to the chase" meant foregoing the boring setup and getting to the good stuff at the end.

Color by far and a little dodging of the train and burning the sky would help draw the eye to the center.
Nice shot BTW!

Bob
nerrp.com

I understand what you guys mean- but this is Donner!  Donner is mountains 'n trees 'n stone 'n weather- and  they have trains.  I aim to convey the place as well as the trains.  That canyon and weather had been going on all morning  (a pretty dramatic show too!)  and then the EB kinda crowded the scene for about 5min.  But then it was soon gone, and the canyon and weather resumed.  The EB was almost an interruption of sorts.     
But, hey, point taken.
SR

Ah!  The lot of an artist is to be misunderstood.  In that I have succeeded, no?

BoilingMan Wrote:

> I understand what you guys mean- but this is
> Donner!  Donner is mountains 'n trees 'n stone 'n
> weather- and  they have trains.  I aim to convey the
> place as well as the trains. 

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against black and white on general principals.  It can be quite effective and moving to strip the color away from a scene, and the black and white rendition above is certainly a fine photo.   I just think that, in this case, all the elements play together better, make a more cohesive whole, and "convey the place" more effectively with the color intact. 

I’m with Evan on this one. The locomotive in the B&W is too dark and is not the most prominent part of the photo. But the yellow color does draw the eye to the locomotive in what is mostly a B&W environment. That’s in my professional amateur photography opinion. You do take some great photos at many wonderfully and out of the way locations.

Gary

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