Baker's Dozen: 'It Must Be Color' (Part III)

Photo by Stan Banos

Photo by David Morse

Photo by Mark Kinsman

Photo by Mike Knowles

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Stan Banos sent his photo without comment.

David Morse of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania writes, "I took this photo at the annual fourth of July parade in Philly with a Nikon D7000 and a 16–85mm lens. Although the image works in B&W because of the strong composition, the red and blue stars and face paint definitely make the photo sing and define the event as patriotic. Converted to B&W, the stars have exactly the same grey value and you lose the dynamic rhythm the colors provide."

Mark Kinsman says: "I live in the suburbs of Chicago—Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Taken in Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois, on a summer day. This one caught my attention because of the combination of colors along with her gesture—sitting with feet in a wishing well stream that runs along this area, reading a real book. Without color? No way."

Mike Knowles (whose work also appeared in this post) writes: "This is a photo of a Crimson-Rumped Toucanet (although his rump is sadly out of shot). It was taken near Mindo in Ecuador in 2016 with an Olympus EM-5 and Panasonic 100–300mm lens. I recently stuck a copy of this on the wall next to my desk at work, along with about nine or 10 other photos of various things and places, and it always captures my eye more than the others, which I didn't expect when I stuck it up.

"This was a tough choice...."

Thanks to everyone! The thirteenth photo, which makes the dozen into a baker's dozen, usually appears at the end of the set of twelve. Just as a reminder, Chester Williams' "The Goodbye Kiss" (last picture on this page) was the thirteenth photo in this series. (And by the way, Chester and I are talking about possibly offering that picture as a fine print.)

Looking forward to your comments as always!

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

MikeK: "How very nice to be featured here—especially on a day when I was feeling pretty downbeat about my own photography (having looked through over 800 photos I took on a recent trip and found them all to be pretty unremarkable). This wasn't actually my first choice for a submission, but I wasn't sure how essential colour was to my original choice—though the more I think about it, the more I think it is.

"I suppose, ultimately, it must be colour if the author of the work decides it must. It's a creative choice, along with aspect ratio and any aspect of exposure. A given picture may work equally well, or better, with a different crop, for example, but it's the creator's prerogative to choose. I have tried to evaluate my own photos on whether colour, or lack of it, adds to an image. And 'adding' could really mean anything—perhaps just the evocation of a memory related to the photo, which means nothing to anyone else. It's also interesting how different the print I have on my wall looks to the on-screen version. The print seems to have a more yellow tint to it—it's probably not a massive difference in actual values, but it changes the look of it quite noticeably (for the record I prefer the on-screen one)."

Frank Lehnen: "I'd have preferred the first one in B&W...still a great photo though."

Mike replies: Fair enough, but then you'd miss that counter-arguing "blue," which puts the finishing touch on the picture as I see it.

Comments

[Eric Rose]

Stan Banos without a comment! The world must be coming to an end lol.

[Mark Kinsman]

Thanks for including my photo in the It Must Be Color baker's dozen Mike! If anyone is interested in the details: It was taken back when I was still shooting Canon - a 5D Mark II, f/6.3, ISO400 using the EF70-200mm f/4 IS USM lens. One of my favorite L lenses in the Canon line.
I recall seeing her and thinking of the Rolling Stones song for the title:
She's A Rainbow.

[Brian Stewart]

It must be in colour (my added emphasis). I work mostly in B&W, and the question I ask when my personal creative advisor says this in relation to my own images is: why? What this series has demonstrated to me is that there's no single answer to that question. At least there isn't for many images - if you take the colour away and there's not much of interest left, the answer is obviously yes - but there are plenty of images that work well in either genre, including in this series. My question remains: why "must"?

I think in many cases "must" really means "I prefer". It's a statment about which aspect of the image is important to the viewer - colour or tones. Which is valid. Each photographer is entitled to make that call in relation to their own images, and as Ken Tanaka said in the 'My Take on Emma' thread, this is Mike's forum and he decides which images he thinks are likely to best meet the "must be in colour" theme. But I suggest that we need to be honest with ourselves and admit that "must" is often just a statement about preference, rather than a literal statement.

But even a die-hard, monochrome tragic like me has to concede that sometimes an image must be in colour, because that's how I prefer that particular image. Not often, but sometimes. If I had shot 'Emma', I'd be torn. I'd print both and hang them in different rooms.

[Steve Jacob]

I think the first image might even be ironic in black and white, but the others really sing because of the colour.

I admit that one of the things I look for when wandering the streets with a camera is some interesting interplay of colours, especially when it contrasts with the surroundings.

[subroto mukerji]

As our not-so-'umble (shades of Uriah Heep!)Ed is so often at pains to explain to his readers (most of whom he seems to believe are inadequately educated), the term 'Baker's Dozen' stands for thirteen units of something. It apparently sprang from a precautionary measure taken by bakers to avoid penalization on account of short weight delivery in respect of a dozen loaves of bread.
More here ...
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/Bakers-dozen.html
A little exposure to British / European history can often unveil the strangest of traditions. If I remember correctly, our Ed was recently looking into the Oliver Cromwellian interregnum.
~ Subroto Mukerji, New Delhi, India

[Chester Williams]

Good choice, Mike. You certainly have the "eye" for choosing these images.

Mark's image stands out for me as I can't imagine losing the impact of that hair in full and glorious color.

PS...
Appreciate the print offer for "The Goodbye Kiss". Thanks...

[Ken Tanaka]

Steve Jacobs’s remark on Stan Banos’s image gave me a grin and a further idea. What if its graffiti’ed words “BLue” and “RED” were painted in transposed colors? Now that would be a great example of “it must be color”!

[Stan B.]

Curious... A coupla years back, I had a B&W photo published here that prominently featured a Ginormous American flag behind the main subject. At least one person commented that it should have been in color, which I think would have turned it into one gaudy Technicolor extravaganza. Now, after 40 years of shooting exclusively in B&W, I've finally made the digital/color plunge. Although most of my rectangular images continue to be B&W photos with color added, I would not have bothered shooting this in B&W, for same said reasons Mike stated. Shooting these minimalist walled squares that rely heavily on color (shot mostly with my everyday GR) have opened up a whole new way of seeing that I've always wanted to address.

[Jim A]

I'm a sucker for wildlife photography. I love Mikes image and his comment about, "the evocation of a memory related to the photo, which means nothing to anyone else."

Editor Mike's counter-arguing comment on the graffiti reminded me of something similar I've seen...somewhere. As I recall, it was another photo of graffiti and the original block letter graffiti said "REJECT AUTHORITY". The secondary script graffiti said, "Don't tell me what to do".