Portrait of a Racer!

[Mike Doran]

Here is one of my favorite images from the Laguna Seca AMA Superbike test held inthe waning days of March 2008. The images started out in color but I thought it looked better in black&white. The racer is Eric Bostrom and I used the Canon EOS 1D Mark III body and Canon 300 mm 2.8L lens.


Mike Doran
D&W Images
www.dandwimages.com

[John Thawley]

Sorry... but you've lost the eyes. RULE #1... the EYES have it.

Nice B&W conversion, though.

JT

[Daniel Buck]

there are rules? :D

I like the B&W, I've always felt that portraits have a better feel (usually anyway) in B&W.

[Owain Shaw]

The B/W conversion is fine (although I hate the term, and have an issue about 'converting' shots to black and white as an afterthough/improvement thing ... if I'm shooting black and white, I like to shoot with that in mind throughout but, I'm a maaassive rare one! There are too many examples of Black and White being used as a novelty, as a "something different" with normal colour shots being "converted" ... I think Black and White is a special thing in its own right and there's something to be said for shooting to black and white, absorbing yourself in how the tonal qualities of light work differently for black and white photographs than in colour ... as I said, I'm a maaassive rare one!) but, as a shot, this really doesn't work for me. The eyes are absent, the helmet is never going to do wonders for a sense of intimacy ... it just doesn't work for me, sorry!

[Daniel Buck]

with that mindset, why not just shoot B&W film then? :)

[Mike Doran]

The eyes are there just behind the helmet visor, as for the B&W conversion this is how I intended the shot to be as I shot it with converting it to B&W.

Mike Doran
D&W Images

[John Thawley]

The B/W conversion is fine (although I hate the term, and have an issue about 'converting' shots to black and white as an afterthough/improvement thing ... if I'm shooting black and white, I like to shoot with that in mind throughout but, I'm a maaassive rare one! There are too many examples of Black and White being used as a novelty, as a "something different" with normal colour shots being "converted" ... I think Black and White is a special thing in its own right and there's something to be said for shooting to black and white, absorbing yourself in how the tonal qualities of light work differently for black and white photographs than in colour ... as I said, I'm a maaassive rare one!) but, as a shot, this really doesn't work for me. The eyes are absent, the helmet is never going to do wonders for a sense of intimacy ... it just doesn't work for me, sorry!

I just read this and frankly, I have no idea what you said.

JT

[Owain Shaw]

with that mindset, why not just shoot B&W film then? :)

I do, and my hands are disgusting from darkroom chemicals ...

John, it was late and that post could be better punctuated. It's somewhat Poe-esque, in (and in no other way) the fact that one sentence takes up an entire paragraph. I added in the bracketed section, and then just kept writing. Should have gone back to tidy it up ...

[John Thawley]

I do, and my hands are disgusting from darkroom chemicals ...

John, it was late and that post could be better punctuated. It's somewhat Poe-esque, in (and in no other way) the fact that one sentence takes up an entire paragraph. I added in the bracketed section, and then just kept writing. Should have gone back to tidy it up ...
Well, i think I know what you were driving at, though I respectfully disagree.

I fully understand the concept of seeing in black and white and shooting in black and white. But to imply that conversions are done when someone is trying to improve or salvage an image is a bit presumptious. Furthermore, since the orginal scene was in color... and now I have an image in front of me, that is in color, why is it some sort of sin to convert it to black and white?

So, a.) I think the comment might have been a tad elitist and b.) I think the intent of the statement was fundamentally wrong.

I would respectfully suggest to you this scenario: What IF at the onset of photography, the only option had been color?

Certainly, a proper black and white conversion requires skill and good technique... but it is just that... a technique. It can be done poorly... or it can be done well.

There is also the matter of the viewers expectation of a scene. I don't like modern race cars done in black and white.... I'm quite sure it's my "mind's eye" that expects bright colors from a scene featuring brightly decaled race cars.

Now, I have often said that I would like to shoot a vintage event and shoot soley for the purpose of producing the images in black and white. So, I do understand where you are coming from. But, in the general context of your statement, I believe you are wrong.

IMO.

JT

http://community.automotivephoto.net/photopost/data/507/pirro2.jpg

[Owain Shaw]

Fair points. With this message I'd like to clarify, or better express my original sentiments, partially in response to the points you raised.

I don't deny the skill in the technique of Black and White "conversion" ... like everything else, it's very easy to do badly, more difficult to do well. To do it well requires consideration for various things and one of them is the nature of Black and White.

I don't think I made any mention of Black and White being used for salvaging poor shots, I said there were too many examples of Black and White being used as a novelty, as "something different" which was what I wasn't keen on. Also, it's a far more general point than anything connected with Mike's image. It was the term "conversion" I was taking issue with, converting what was originally intended as a colour shot into a Black and White. I like to treat Black and White specially and onto itself ...

I would definitely agree that modern racing cars are not (consistently) a subject for Black and White, they are vibrant and colourful and I can always see your images reflect how you feel about colour and the representation of modern motorsport.

However, I also know of your series of Black and White images, many of them portraits, wherein flesh and skin tones are prevalent and these subjects continue to work well in Black and White; when the subject, image and lighting are looked at carefully and embraced along with the nature of the Black and White beast. Even contemporary historic motorsport that you mention needs to be carefully photographed in black and white; modern features such as advertising hoardings, colourful helmets can interrupt the harmony of tonal Black and White images.

The issue of colour reality/colour or black and white photography has been discussed extensively, there has also been a marked shift in "Art Photography" (whatever that is) away from Black and White and towards Colour photography, depending on what you read there's various reasons for this. I'm not sure where I stand on it all, other than I feel it's very important to understand that they are actually quite different mediums of representation and I feel they need to be treated with respect for their differences, strengths and abilities.

It may be best to consider this the end of my post, and read what follows as a seperate entity ...
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________

If colour photography had preceeded black and white photography: Well, I think the first question that came to my mind was whether anyone would have developed Black and White photography at all? I think it would have been developed, but perhaps more as a novelty and it might not have caught on & would perhaps not be a celebrated art form.

Looking at the history of photography, if it were going to be developed anywhere for reasons other than the arbitrary, I think it would have come about in the initial movement of Art Photography (way back in the 19th century) with people seeking to make photographs that looked like Art, I think we would have seen Black and White photography to mimic pencil and charcoal drawings, illustrations and sketches ... if nothing else, I believe this would have happened. The power of black and white and the reason it is still used today lies in the traditions it established within the medium of Photography, had colour come first I'm not sure it would have established such a tradition and grown such a power.

The pioneers of photography and early photographic history is much centred around realism and an accurate representation of real life, a very positivist approach and I think, had this been in colour from the onset, Black and White would have had a very difficult task to assert itself.

Then again, if we look at the shift from Black and White to colour in contemporary Art Photography, it's easy to consider that this could have happened the other way around, with Art Photography embracing Black and White as a medium for distancing itself from realism, positivism and the notions of an autonomous trace of reality and furthering the idea of something created and devised by the photographer. It is very possible that if colour photography had been developed first, that Black and White may have only just started to assert itself upon the medium within the last 30 years ...

It's a very difficult question to answer conceptually as there's lots to consider with the movements and considerations of photography over time, as I think is shown by the fact that in trying to answer your question, I have produced a miniature essay on the subject of an alternative history of Photography!