Black and White

[Aidan Bradley]

"Does anyone recall seeing any 'promotional' material for any golf course in B&W ?  I can't recall a single one." John Stiles.

Several years ago a major golf company(Slazenger???) ran a series of B&W ads which I believe were shot on the first Bandon Dunes course. Very stylish ads.

[Karl Bernetich]

I guess this is more of a photography question ...

As I understand it, quality B&W film developing is getting harder and harder to get.  And, most photographers are going digital ... correct.

One of the main advantages is B&W film produces extraordinary blacks and brilliant whites.  Makes for a great portrait and wedding media.  Does this lend itself to GCA ?

As a professional photographer, do you see a difference in B&W film and digital images converted from color to B&W ?

[Aidan Bradley]

"As a professional photographer, do you see a difference in B&W film and digital images converted from color to B&W ?" Karl

The true acid test would be to capture an image on B&W film, color film, and digital capture. Then ouput three images and compare. As I alluded to earlier having spoken with some other professionals, they all agree that the differences are very subtle. The digital imagery tools at our fingertips today are very powerful. Brilliant whites and rich blacks are easy to reproduce. If I ever perform the afore mentioned acid test I will let you know. Unless one is creating a B&W print the old fashioned way,(developer,stop bath, fixer) all imagery which is to be reproduced goes through the same  process.

[Tim Bert]

Aidan, no offense but the quality of your work is too good for this comparison.  Your pictures are going to look good no matter how you post them.

I thought I'd try this exercise with amateur photography.  I've provided three alternatives - full color, toned down color, and B&W.

[Joe Hancock]

Technical question: Does the difference between B&W and color manifest itself to the same degree in the digital world as it does with film?

Joe

[Jim Nugent]

Matt, I like color more, too, and also hope Ran will replace the B&W's in the Friar's Head profile.  

[Mark_F]

Despite the advantages of Photoshop, there is a difference between a dedicated black and white image as opposed to one converted from colour.

Therre is a world of difference between various brands of black and white film, which all have their own unique tonal range and contrast that for mine doesn't happen with conversion.

Despite haveing taking quite a few pics of my course in black and white, I think colour is generally more suited for golf course landscapes.

Many, if not most, golf courses have a somewhat limited palette of colours, and it is the warmth and/or quality of the light that lifts the image into another realm.

You get the quality with black and white, but not the colour.

But, in Rich Goodale's Experience Dornoch guide, there is the best black and white photograph of a golf course I have ever seen.  Maybe Rich can let us know its original form...

[ForkaB]

Mark

The photo in "Experience Royal Dornoch" of which you speak is a black and white original, by a true artist of the photographic medium, Craig Mackay.

I also have at home two of the 100 B&W images chosen by a very talented US photographer, Mike Book, out of a whole summer of work in Dornoch in the mid-80's.  They show the contours and character of the course better than any colour photograph I have ever seen.

Colour is if you want eye candy, B&W is for real GCA afficionados, IMVHO.

Rich

PS--an additional fact of interest.  Craig's picture is of the 16th green at Dornoch, which goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, particularly if the beholder is an artist......

R

[Jim Nugent]

Rich, for me B&W may be more artistic -- Ansel Adams' photos as an example -- but color lets me see better what the course really looks like.  

[Garland Bayley]

Aidan's pictures are going to shine in B&W, because he shoots with low sunlight angles and gets lots of shadow. Therefore he gets a larger range of white to black just as Ansel Adams always strived to do.