Hmmmm,

the B/W idea has something to do with old-time photography (although colour photos are much older than most think)

So perhaps duotones and monotones which fall into the same category should be ok, selective coloring perhaps not.

But i am wide open to the ideas of the others..

I think I have never seen a photo of Sunlight in this gallery... and I think, yes, we can include duotones, monotones, selective colours, etc.. this gallery is so poor....

Personally I'd prefer monochrome images, not just B&W (in fact I think I may be guilty of dropping a monochrome in this gallery in the past - oops!!) - not duotones & selective colouring, there is another "open category" MEG that these could be posted in.

If not in the B&W MEG then it will just be somewhere else - assuming there is enough interest to make it happen.  Personally I don't much care but I don't think it really serves any real purpose to become too pedantic about what meets the criteria and what doesn't.  Call it whatever you will a pic that is notably distinct in its lack of colours or at the least its limitation of them should be enough of a standard.  Else we will end up with more MEG's than is likely worthwhile, a probable drop in standards and smalller amounts of entries, add to that the interminable threads about "where does this belong" ( a thinly veiled ploy to simply show the pic) and I just fancy it all has the possibility of getting all too silly.

Keep it simple. It ain't broke, don't fix it.  It is not compulsory for anyone to like every pic in an MEG nor is it compulsory for every pic to fit one person's definition of a subject type.  A loosely defined collection will be far more diverse and interesting, will keep everything neatly together in one place and will not spawn endless threads about whether something should be in this MEG or that MEG.  I see it now - The duotone MEG, the monochrome MEG, the Sepia MEG... meh.... 

IMO.

Hi Gwalion,

If yer not going tae be pedantic about a Black+White gallery, then ye may as well call it.....

"This was gonna be a Black+White gallery but hey! fire in with any old shot and we'll call it the Gallimaufry gallery 'cos nobody's gonna just put Black+White photos in it - are they?" Shouldn't the clue be in the title?

PS Why would speciality threads result in a drop in standards?

Hi Tao2 - you can be as pedantic as you like, but in so doing you risk spawning countless threads of a very similar nature... why not a specific B&W thread for pics taken on a Thursday?

A single "umbrella" thread, call it whatever you will, is sifficient IMO, but as I said - I don't really care, but you are welcome to try and make me as it were.  If you can convince me of the need for separate MEG's for each "variation"  I will support the idea, but you have failed to do so thus far.

The drop in standards - probable but not certain - is likely to result from people wanting to enter every different MEG - the more galleries the harder it will be to maintain a high standard; that is not to say it is not possible, but IMO it is likely.  As I said though, probable not certain.  

Not at all.  Are black and white pictures composed entirely of black and white tones? or are there, usually, several shades of grey, if there are, then your suggestion that it is all in the title is inaccurate.  

There is no proposition to refute here, only an opinion requested, and offered.

Hi everyone, I'm with Sunlight all the way, your post (for me) hits the nail on the head. All of the photo's I have submitted for this gallery have been taken with my camera set to B&W, for the simple reason - this makes you see in B&W even before you compose the shot.

I'm not opposed to colour shots being converted with software, I just feel you get better results if photo's are taken with a B&W frame of mind - try it.

Finally, no blobs of colour please. 

Thanks, Ian

Boring..

Have to agree with you Edy - this thread, according to the thread header, is about whether or not the B&W gallery should be considered a "broad umbrella" term that allows for duotones, sepia etc not a discussion on what constitutes good B&W photography or how it is best achieved.

I will reiterate my opinion - I think it should be an "umbrella" type thread ( change the title if needs be) else we are likely to end up with three or four more MEG threads which are likely to have little input. ( how many images that fall into these other categories do we actually see in any given week? )

My opinion only and my "vote", if you will.

I figure from the feedback people do not want change, just some leeway to insert black and white shots with processing on board. Interestingly no one wanted colour popping (selective colouring) in the thread if i recall correctly. 

Saying that i figure there is no need to change the thread header or title unless to insert the words - monotones and duotones permissible (sepias etc), but please no colour popping (selective colouring).

Thank you folks for responding to the thread.

An example of a duotone above. This is easy to accomplish in ACR firstly making it a monotone and then using "split toning" to colour the highlight and shadow channels separately.

Colour Popping and Selective Colour are the same thing, and an example of which is above. Easy to achieve in any paint/editing program that uses layers, and some that dont.

Update, read this weeks posting thread carefully noting all changes please. I hope its what the majority wanted.