Black & White VS. Color Photo's...a poll

downgoesfrazier

By way of a poll, do you guys think black and white photographs are:

A) "Classic and evokes nostaglic warm & fuzzies. I prefer it."

"Too Old School and color is where it's at."

C) "Has it's place, but I buy color whenever I can."

D) Other, explain.

Your input is appreciated.


dgf

baseballfanatic

It mainly depends on the photo and the era it comes from. I find new "retro" photos to "artsy". I like early photos of stars that you never get to see in color (I dont think anyone would recognize Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb if they had color added to them). Everything really depends on the photo. A good pic will sell in B&W or color........

Southerncards

I like b&w for vintage pics assuming they are crisp photos.

Color should be used for anything from the 50's on up.

lawnmowerman

Im a color guy. It looks more real if its in color because you are seeing it as people who were there were seeing it. jmo

matt

bri2327

I prefer the B & W., especially for vintage photos. More and more lately I have been looking at modern players in b & w photos and they are growing on me too. Great for framing and matting, they give a nice classy look Imo.

phreakydancin

I buy sports pics mainly to get autographed. For that I prefer B&W, 'cause it makes the blue pen stand out more.

Dallas88

C - although no real preference for "earlier" pics

tkd7

If the subject is well illuminated, I prefer color photos. With the advent of televised sports, the field and players are either brightly lit or in the sunshine which makes for great color photos. Without the contrast of light to dark, I don't think the visual aspects of B&W photography comes through. I much prefer the old Kodachrome color photos from the 50's than B&W photos.

For evening events that weren't particularly well illuminated for TV, I prefer B&W photos. The light to dark contrast in these photos is amazing. The best B&W sports photos I have seen are boxing photos. The combination of the cigarette smoke acting as a filter and overhead lighting seems to make for some great photography. I've also seen some great photos B&W photos of the marathon at the Rome Olympics that were taken at night that are amazing.

BTW-My parents didn't buy a color TV until the 80's, so my baseball cards were the only color images of players that I had.

viking7

I have black & white sports photos, and some color too and like them both. I have a 1961 black and white photo of Mantle & Maris with President Truman at Yankee Stadium and that is one of my favorites!

lawnmowermanswife

Black and white all the way! It's always classic.

Bosox1976

Color. High quality prints like you do look spectacular in color. Average negatives + cheap paper? Maybe b&w depending on subject matter. Modern? Always color.

tkd7

Here are some Hy Peskin photos that look great in B&W, including the boxing photo I mentioned previously. Of course, Hy was one of the best sports photographers ever.







And one of his color photos that is a classic.

tkd7

And John Zimmerman's photo from the 1960 Rome Olympics of Abebe Bikila, the first black African to win the Olympic Marathon.

Bosox1976

That boxing photo is magnificent. Truly photography as art.

GDM67

C.

When it comes to sports photos, I like the immediacy of color images. Anyone who has seen When it Was A Game will recognize that impulse.

I like B&W, and it has it's place (I have a nice photo of Ruth in mid swing framed on my wall and another one of the '37 Redskins team, so I understand the timeless, epic quality B&W evokes), but I prefer the you-are-there depth that color images have,

storm888

B&W.

They make me think that I am looking at art.
Most color shots, do not.

storm

ArnyVee

Boy, I could stare at those pictures for hours! Beautiful work.

I'm a fan of "A", but can appreciate some nice color pics as well. So, I don't have a real preference. I have a beautiful picture of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig & Jimmie Foxx leaning up against the 'good seats' at a stadium that I picked up at an art show here in South Florida. Had it framed and displayed proudly until my 2nd daughter took over 'my' room. LOL

GDM67

In a quasi-related vein, I see from the new Sports Illustrated, and then a search of Amazon, that SI is publishing the coffee table item The Baseball Book in mid-October.

Anyone who has seen, or better yet owns, last year's The Football Book, knows what a top notch item that is. I can't imagine this will be any less spectacular. I'll be placing my order for this in a few days and I'm really looking forward to it's release.