Which Would You Choose?

If you only had two choices, would you choose to shoot in black and white or in color? The majority of people would probably choose color, but me, I’d choose black and white.

Why? There are a few things that make me gravitate towards shooting in black and white: the emotion, the timelessness, and the complexing of capturing a moment in time. Don’t get me wrong, I love color photos, I just love black and white ones even more!

In this blog, I’ll share my thoughts and opinions on this format. I hope it will give you some insight into the beauty that black and white photos can bring and encourage some of you to try taking more shots in black and white!

The Emotions

With the majority of my photographs, the main thing I am trying to do is capture the emotions. With black and white photos, emotions are amplified to a whole other level. Black and white images have a way of placing the subjects in the forefront of the photo in a way that color photos can’t quite capture.

Viewers aren’t distracted by the color or the things going on in the background. They are able to focus solely on the subject and what they are doing. I love being able to stir the emotions of viewers when they see my photos.

It’s the excitement of the bouquet toss, the love in the parents’ eyes as they look at their baby, the way a daughter looks at a picture of her late father, or the solitude of a boy sitting alone - these are true, raw emotions. There is something different about the way you can see the emotions in a black and white photo that I believe color photos aren’t able to accomplish.

The Timelessness

We are all familiar with black and white photos from ‘back in the day’. Whether it’s the iconic ‘Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima’, the photo from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, or the ‘Kissing Sailor’ as people celebrated V-J Day in Times Square, all of these images are timeless…and they’re all black and white!

Slapping a monochrome filter onto a picture doesn’t automatically make it timeless. Capturing that raw, authentic moment in time with an image is what makes a black and white photo amazing. I believe that to take a timeless photo, you have to have a ‘mindset of black and white’. It’s hard to explain what I mean by that, but if you go out and start shooting in black and white, you may be able to see what I mean.

Can you feel the raw authenticity in the images below? There is a truth that shines through - you can feel the depth, the joy, the love, the peace in these moments. I added a small description below to give you some context for what is going on in these images.

Bride and groom being prayed over by bridesmaids and groomsmen before the wedding day.

Step brothers running in a field together.

Mother and daughter giving each other a hug.

Groom reflecting and praying in the kitchen before his wedding day.

The Complexity

I like to say that black and white photos are both simple and complex. The foundation of black and white photos seems simple, right? You take a photo and what you get is an image that only shows three colors: black, white, and grey. But that is also what makes it complex…you only have three colors to bring an image to life!

Without being able to use color to bring a photo life and vibrance, it’s challenging to produce a great shot in black and white. You have only the light and shadow to work with and this, I believe, is the purest form of photography.

This is why I love it, because it makes you stop and think before you take the shot. It forces you to evaluate your environment and analyze what you are capturing. Yes, you have to think about those things when taking a color photo too, but you’re thinking about what your eye is actually seeing; with black and white photos, you need to get into a different mindset before you press the shutter. You have to think about how the light and shadows will affect the viewer’s ability to see the emotion you’re trying to capture.

So what do you think?

In my opinion black and white is the way to go. Yes, it’s subjective for sure, and one can argue that color is superior, but for me, there’s nothing like an amazing black and white photo. The emotions, the timelessness, and the complex task of capturing an image just makes this style so alluring to me.

I encourage you to try to take some photos in black and white this week, you never know, you might capture something amazing.

Until next time!