I posted the first recent color shot on 8/29/2006 - less than a month ago. I see that I had been getting bored with my usual walking around street stuff and had been going through lots of old b&w photos.
I don't think there was any conscious decision to switch to color - it just happened - the same way that I might suddenly decide to listen to Miles Davis instead of Randy Newman. There had been jabs at new forms such as infrared that petered out; book projects that didn't go anywhere (my fault) - and other sporadic or maybe the word is spasmodic gestures.
At the same time - a couple of other things happened: Markus mentioned Alien Skin Exposure - but for how good the b&w conversion was; that was on the back-burner somewhere; the M3 acted up at slower speeds and I was wondering whether I wanted to get it overhauled; but to be honest - I was prob. just bored. In a funk. Road closed ahead.
And so - one thing leads to another (as it usually does) - and I find myself back in digicam world. Not - however so that I could do b&w conversions - but so that I could do color and compose on the LCD with the tic-tac-toe grid.
And Alien Skin - and various Photoshop blending techniques (b&w + color film blends) was giving me this roll your own recipe: take two layers of Tri-X 400 and blend with Kodachrome 64 in screen mode at 34% mix. (Don't take that literally but you see what I mean).
The color palette became manageable for the first time. Result of the plug-in plus n number of years working in PS, plus time spent printing digitally, plus my own personality, plus Miles Davis playing constantly.
I think that Dylan and John Prine are excellent for b&w; but if you want to do color - I suggest jazz.
Also - b&w - I still opt for film. Color - right now it's digital. I say "right now" 'cause I know myself and nothing you read here has little hope of being permanent. Everything I say should have a footnote, a caveat, and a disclaimer: these thoughts are of the moment - and should not under any circumstances be taken as gospel. I do not stand behind them at all. Not only do I not stand behind my ideas - I stand in front of them! They are swiftly approaching and will knock me on my can if I'm not careful.
