Roller Derby - B&W

Here are a few shots from Last night's bout between the V-Town Derby Dames and the West Coast Derby Knockouts. I have been converting a lot to black and white lately and the girls love them. I am still not totally sold. One of my favorite parts of derby shots are the bright colors. But here goes.

1.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.davidcostap​hotography.com …7yj#1230443304_​AqJM4-A-LB

IMAGE LINK: http://www.davidcostap​hotography.com …7yj#1230449955_​YYE6N-A-LB

IMAGE LINK: http://www.davidcostap​hotography.com …7yj#1230452840_​2kefg-A-LB

IMAGE LINK: http://www.davidcostap​hotography.com …7yj#1230458823_​UZdWk-A-LB

IMAGE LINK: http://www.davidcostap​hotography.com …7yj#1230456066_​XrkAE-A-LB

IMAGE LINK: http://www.davidcostap​hotography.com …BjB#1176026432_​oJrui-A-LB

IMAGE LINK: http://www.davidcostap​hotography.com …BjB#1176032023_​7ryXc-A-LB

IMAGE LINK: http://www.davidcostap​hotography.com …BjB#1176032319_​AvJG4-A-LB

Great shots! I agree, I like the bright colors in derby but some of these pictures definitely look good in B/W

Why not try selective color on just your foreground subjects?

JustinCasey wrote in post #12103938
Why not try selective color on just your foreground subjects?

Friends dont let friends do selective color.

JustinCasey wrote in post #12103938
Why not try selective color on just your foreground subjects?

Justin, while many people like selective color, most photographer's consider it gimmicky. Of course, If a client wants it I will do it.

gonzogolf wrote in post #12103948
Friends dont let friends do selective color.

That's pretty funny!

gonzogolf wrote in post #12103948
Friends dont let friends do selective color.

And some rules are meant to be broken. I wouldn't automatically throw away an entire technique just because you don't like the way others have used it.

sempaidavid wrote in post #12103969
Justin, while many people like selective color, most photographer's consider it gimmicky. Of course, If a client wants it I will do it.

I get that, but there are ways of doing it with subtlety that could make it look cool.

Nice shots. I would have dragged the shutter more to help blur the background more. Maybe 1/8 sec or less. The flash will freeze the action for you, so its essentially blur to taste.

I would also ease off the black levels a bit too. I feel you're losing too much detail.

Other than #4, a lot look pretty weird in B&W IMO.

JustinCasey wrote in post #12104037
I get that, but there are ways of doing it with subtlety that could make it look cool.

And mostly ways to make it look tacky, cheap, and an afterthought because you couldnt make the image you wanted in the first place.

RobertMang wrote in post #12104170
Other than #4, a lot look pretty weird in B&W IMO.

Some of these look overexposed and underexposed. A lot of people use B&W to mask a poorly exposed photo. I think the white balance must be off in these images. I don't know why else would the whole batch would be black and white.

gonzogolf wrote in post #12104445
And mostly ways to make it look tacky, cheap, and an afterthought because you couldnt make the image you wanted in the first place.

On the selective coloring topic, I agree with the "tacky and cheap" comment, but sometimes it just depends on who the client is. The girls in the photo and the parents loved the photo below, but that's because teenage girls (for some reason) like selective coloring.

Well the originals are exposed properly and the white balance was set with a 18% card. I just used a black and white preset. I can post a link to the originals later. But I either need to work on my B&Ws or go back to color. Thanks for the feedback.

On my monitor, the blakcs are blocked up and there seems to be a big gap between true black and the mid-tones making them look overly contrasted.

vcrampton wrote in post #12108627
On the selective coloring topic, I agree with the "tacky and cheap" comment, but sometimes it just depends on who the client is. The girls in the photo and the parents loved the photo below, but that's because teenage girls (for some reason) like selective coloring.

Maybe that's because teenage girls are tacky and cheap?