what makes a good b + w photograph? please answer by the 29 - 9 - 2000

-- simon vigar (death_threats@hotmail.com), September 27, 2000

Answers

The total absence of cheese, although some (Trib?) might disagree.

Alternatively: what do you mean by 'good'?

Traditionally: a nice range of greys, from almost-but-not-quite black to almost-but-not-quite white.

Personally: there is no magic bullet, no formula that will guarantee a 'good' photograph.

You might spend the next couple of days looking at a load of b&w photos, and decide for yourself what makes them 'good', or otherwise.

-- Alan Gibson (Alan@snibgo.com), September 27, 2000.

An interesting subject well-rendered.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), September 27, 2000.

Critical acclaim from those qualified to have an opinion.

-- Paul Oosthoek (pauloosthoek@hotmal.com), September 27, 2000.

simon vigar (death_threats@hotmail.com),

The question is unanswerable as asked, but the email address is great.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), September 28, 2000.

"what makes a good b + w photograph?"

A good b + w photographer.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), September 28, 2000.

Fuzzy vs. sharp (Mark Finhill) meet: what makes a good b + w photograph? (simon vigar)

-- Christian Harkness (chris.harkness@eudoramail.com), September 28, 2000.

What makes a good B+W Photograph? Some say a good B+W Photographer, but it really takes a goo B+W Printer. I've seen some of my photos printed by others in classes I've taken (this is part of an assignment, print a class-mates negs.) that were by far more successful than I in printing my own, and others have felt the same about a few [very few] of their images I printed.

To be less technical, a good photo, of any sort, must either be visualy appealing or have some sort of emotional impact. Examples would be a classical still-life or nude, and a photo with great emotional impact would be one like the firefighter carrying the injured child from the site of the OK. City bombing, or the photo of an unborn child reaching out and grasping the finger of the surgeon that just opened an incision in the mother's womb.

-- Joseph Moniz (Kyller@annex.com), October 01, 2000.

Simple composition & a strong center of interest. Go to a museum or gallery look at all types of art (not only photos) get a feel of how to convert the 360 deg. 3 dimensional world into a 2 dimensional square or rectangle. The trick is to try and visualise the subject as it will be in the final print.

-- Robert Orofino (rorofino@iopener.net), October 01, 2000.

the same thing that makes a good color print, or a good painting: Content. All the technical stuff is great after the fact, but it begins with content.

-- Ed Farmer (photography2k@hotmail.com), October 03, 2000.