@Laurie, where do you see blue??. Yellow, orange and red are all different values of the same color. This is about as monochrome as you will get in color!! But, hey, it's OK! I just wanted to think out of the b&w and washed color motif a bit. Did you feel the low angle shot of the blue sign against a blue sky was out of the realm of "Monochrome" there were serious variations of the blues in that too.

Beamer...I see blueish hues in the sky about mid frame. Also in the mountains there is a dusky blue tone on my (calibrated) monitors.

Red and yellow are not the same...blended they make orange but they are not differing shades of the same color.

The blue sign is one of the best examples of Monochrome in the theme so far. It is defined as variations of a color. ie...blue and darker blue...lime green. The red stairwell is the most perfect submission so far as it is the truest monochrome yet.

Oops got interrupted. I meant to delete the lime green...I was going to say lime green and forest green would also work in monochrome...got derailed as I was editing...sorry.

@Laurie if you look at a color wheel, there is no more variance in the hues of this image than there is in the blue one. Cyan and blue are not the "same color" either, combine blue and green and get cyan. If you sample 3 colors in each and compare the HLS value of Hue how much variance would you allow and still call it monochrome?? Just trying to point out that the idea of what "one color" mean is very subjective. You are totally right about the red stairs. It's just one color because the whole structure is painted with the same paint. The blue sky and the sky are not. Both the hue and the value of the sky varies as does the sky and foreground in mine. It's just a matter of degree.

@Laurie, OK, just to be a nudge. I just sample several places on each image. The Hue varies between 10 - 60 in the sunset image and between 200 - 225 in the blue sign image. So, the blue sign is in a tighter range of hues, but still varies. There is a wider range of hues in the sunset. What variance would you say is acceptable for "Monochrome"??

I respectfully disagree...I think you are mistaken on your definition of monochrome. Shades of one color...not shades of reds and shades of yellow and shades of orange and blue etc.

Here is a page that explains the color wheel and color theory in nice detail:

http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-schemes.html

I found an even better illustration of monochromatic color schemes here:

http://www.my-photoshop.com/bydesign/monochrome_theory/monochrome-theory.html

@Laurie, I haven't offered any definition?? You were the one saying that my shot is not mono but the blue sign is. I'm just asking you to clarify your definition. What range in the Photoshop color picker for hue would be acceptable and you still consider it monochrome? It's a simple question. If the blue image is acceptable with a hue variance of @25 units and mine is not acceptable with a hue variance of @50, then I suppose for you the cutoff would be somewhere in between.

So, by the terminology included in your first link. BOTH images would only qualify as "Analogous color scheme", neither would qualify as "Monochromatic color scheme", right??

And by the explanation in the second link, same result, you would have to but both images outside the definition of "Monochrome Theory".

So, we're back to where I started. It's a matter of degree. Both images are disqualified as "Monochrome" by your links because they have H or Hue variance. I, personally am perfectly happy this week if we can see at least a few images that are not b&w and if that means we have to look past the idea of "Analogous color", I'm OK with that too.

I could have "washed" all the colors in my image to one hue just as Hans could have with the sign or Carlo with the underwater shot. But none of them would have looked natural imo.

Cheers!

I am just going by the definition of monochrome used in color theory. I'm sorry if you do not like that definition.

You have varying shades of yellow...varying shades of blue...varying shades of reds...varying shades of orange in one image. That does not fit the definition of monochrome as I understand it.

This image that just posted:

http://www.weeklyshot.org/theme/monochrome/response/76/

Is probably the purest example of a color monochrome posted in the theme so far.

So I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.

I don't use photoshop much...very rarely, only on formal portraits...I live in the stone age and I have only a dusty old version of CS2...lol...which has not been opened in a looooong time. Probably 98% of my images are edited in 5 minutes or less in Lightroom only. Mostly just curves and the occasional WB adjustment. So I couldn't tell anything about the color picker in photoshop since I have never used it.

(I tried to go non-black and white and failed miserably.)

Oh by the way...regardless of whether I think it is monochrome or not...It is a gorgeous photo and I wish I had taken it myself. :)

@Laurie, we can certainly agree to disagree. But you have still not made any comment about the blue sign image and why it meets your definition and the sunset doesn't. And once again, I have yet to offer any definition of "Monochrome". I have only offered a image that you said didn't meet your definition and then you said that the blue sign did. So, since they both have variance in the Hues, why and your links both said a monochrome image should have no variance. Why do you evaluate these 2 images different. I'll shut up now and bask in the warm glow of the setting SoCal sun!!

I am curious...would you consider these both to be monochrome?

http://files.capturethisphotography.com/photos_2010/water_droplet_.jpg

and

http://files.capturethisphotography.com/photos_2010/lime_and_water_glass-1.jpg

To me only the second one...the glass of seltzer on the green paper backdrop with the lime is monochrome...the other is not even close since it is varying shades of both green and blue reflected in the water.

Oh the blue sign has varying shades of blue...simple...at least to my eyes...I don't care about the color picker stuff and the math behind it. The sign may not be a "pure" or perfect monochrome but the intent to show varying shades of blue (one color) is easily evident with the naked eye.

The difference is there are different shades of several colors in yours ie. shades of yellow shades of orange, shades of red, shades of blue. (noticeable with the naked eye not the color picker) and the sign has shades of one color.

@Laurie, by either definition, the technical on or the one you just stated about your eye. Neither is monochrome. One is blue and green the other is yellow and green. For my eye, I would have been comfortable posting the glass one in this theme but not the water drop.

BTW, just to drive home my point about not needing a definition and about it all being a matter of degree: entry #76 has the wides variance of hues of any of the three WS images in this thread. The blue sign varies by @25 Hue units, the sunset by @50 and the book pages by @70. But, as you point out, that's a technical observation. I am fine with all 3 having a place in this Theme and I am fine with all 3 getting strong scores for Relevance. I certainly scored both the sign and the book pages high all across, I like theme both!!

Maybe I could explain my position a little more simply...the blue, which I see in the clouds and in the mountains, in your image is on the opposite side of the color wheel from yellow/orange tones which seem the predominant color in the image. Maybe that is a very simplistic view but nevertheless that is the way I see it. It is just my perception.

Does that at least make a little more sense as to why I do not consider this image monochrome?

Interesting discussion. Aside from the main point, this is a beautiful photo. No doubt about that.

I went into Photoshop and put together some color palette illustrations using the color picker in CS2 on 3 images. Your image, the blue sign and the lime in Seltzer water.

I think they illustrate pretty well why I think the sign and the lime is monochrome and yours doesn't quite fit the theme. I took samples from various places on all the images and painted them on a palette. It was kind of fun.

Entry #35 blue sign: http://files.capturethisphotography.com/tests/ws_mono_35_blue_sign.jpg

All various shades of blue.

yours:
http://files.capturethisphotography.com/tests/beamer.jpg

The yellow and red are not varying shades of each other.

The lime:
http://files.capturethisphotography.com/tests/lime_and_water_color_range.jpg

All various shades of green. (limes are green inside and out). This was shot bouncing light off of a green backdrop.

I didn't post that one in the theme because the glass was scratched and it just looks kind of sloppy to me. Not to mention the seltzer wasn't very fizzy which annoyed me. It was more of an experiment than anything else.

This is what happens when I am bored on a Friday night...lol. I should be out on the town!

Almost 5s across. get rid of the other colors

This is actually fun, great discussion!

2 of your ramps actually make my point not yours. The ramps you sampled on the sunset shot have a hue range from 352 - 38 that's variance of 46 degrees of hue. Your glass shot has a range of 75 - 144 that's a variance of 69 degrees in hue. Putting them both squarely in the camp of "Analogous color scheme" and way outside the definition you offered via your links of "Monochromatic color scheme". Had you been more liberal in your sampling of the blue sign shot you would have a ramp that yields a hue range of 202 - 227. That's a variance of 25 degrees, putting it also squarely in an analogous color scheme.

Had you also included Ursula's shot which has a hue variance of @75 degrees, you would have 4 images all that fall under your definition of analogous color scheme. With the blue sign being the closest to monochrome, my sunset being second closest, followed by your glass and Ursula's being the farthest from monochrome.

Yet you insist that to your eye the only one that isn't monochrome is the sunset. You actually described Ursula's pages shot as the "probably the purest example of a color monochrome posted in the theme so far." Even though as this experiment that you and I have embarked on today, it is the least "monochrome color scheme" of the four up for discussion in this thread.

I gave the blue sign shot and Ursula's pages shot above average marks for Relevance. My sunset has a Relevance score of 2.36, so obviously most folks agree with you even though the numbers do not.

What's the point of all this. None really, just fun discussion. And I, like you, have been somewhat bored at work all this time so...

"What's the point of all this. None really, just fun discussion. And I, like you, have been somewhat bored at work all this time so..."

One thing I think we all can agree on is that the return of WS has resulted in a drop in workplace productivity :)

Seriously Peter, I was wondering why I was so anxious for this to come back!! I was doing too much work. It came at a perfect time too, busiest time of the year at NBC and I was seriously getting bored over at that other, unnamed site!!

I had an initial fun reaction to this, but it didn't hold me long. I do like graphic images and this is certainly graphic and mono!

(teeheeheehee........)

See, you quoted yourself. So that settles it folks!! Thelma thinks this is "certainly graphic and mono!". End of discussion!!

Brandon, can you revise my Relevance score to a 5 please?