Or shades in between?
Some people tend to think in black and white. Some people tend to think in shades of gray. Most of us think in both ways at different times. I think life is like that, too. Obviously the most critical ideas and facts just have to be black and white, true or not true. Unfortunately it’s popular among some, especially the younger generations, to think that a fact can be true for one person and not for another. How that can possibly be logical is beyond me. Opinion is not truth unless it is true! There has to be only one standard by which to measure truth, otherwise those many “truths” are still only opinions.
So in light of what I just wrote, here is a quote from C. S. Lewis (prolific author of many profound books, including The Chronicles of Narnia):
“We are who we believe we are.”
How does this fit in with truth/opinion?
Now on to photography! I’ve been looking at some of my photos that I’ve converted to black and white and shades in-between. (This brought on my thoughts above.) I have my opinions about them, and photography experts might disagree with my conclusions. But that is opinion, not truth (I hope!)
This is a Civil War canon in Gettysburg, Pa. We visited the battlefield two years ago, and it was a very sobering experience. To see that many graves was heartbreaking. I wanted this photo to be black and white instead of color to emphasize the seriousness of the war, rather than the beautifully tended park. The straight black and white accomplished my goal, but the sepia toned photo shows it’s age and I like it better.
The same is true for the photo of the three horses. It was taken at a Civil War re-enactment in Helen, Ga. Here I also liked the subject in the sepia tone. It also helps eliminate the distracting jumbled trees in the background.
San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was gorgeous in color. But I really love the lines of the coastline, and the waves stand out more in the black and white. To me, the waves look almost iridescent, and I can almost feel them. This isn’t sepia. It’s more of a slight coffee. Click on it and you can see the waves better.
These two photos I actually like in classic black and white. The barns are down the street from our subdivision and the photo was taken with light snow falling. The other is a door on a different barn, and I think the normal black and white emphasizes the terrific texture of the old peeling wood.