Shutter Sisters

the black and white of it

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I have recently been lamenting about the undeniable quality of black and white images. Whatever it is, whatever they do to us, black and white photographs can be so…so….you know what I mean.  I don’t know about you but there are some images I capture that I know are meant to be black and white. There’s just no question in my mind.

I do shoot digitally (color) and I’ll admit that I often play with images, process them a number of ways, try different presets on for size and equally enjoy them all. But there are times when nothing but black and white will do.

Do your images ever beckon to you for a black and white treatment? Or perhaps you have been seduced into going back in time and shooting with black and white film again. Oh, the idea does tempt me. I’m sure the time will come when I load up my old film SLR and have a field day but for now, my new Canon 5D (the older version of this amazing thing) rarely leaves my clutches. Which means I shoot in color but I will continue to treat my images as they warrant being treated. When they call for black and white, so be it.

Have you captured a moment in time that was destined for black and white? Do share your marvelous monochromatic shots with us today.

Comments

  6. oh yes, that photo above tracey… it’s so full of facial expression, i can feel it.
    so much would have been lost in that with the colors pulling you away from the feeling.

    this was a recent photo of mine that told me black and white. it whispered it in the wind. she’s an angel.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerashymomma/3413021974/

    "when you photograph people in colour you photograph their clothes, but when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls" ~ Ted Grant

  11. I shoot with a digital camera and with film cameras. I do a lot of black and white photos with my film cameras. If of course digital photography lets me the choice to choose color or black and white when processing the photos, there are some times when I know I photo I am shooting will be black and white and at that moment I am thinking black and white.
    I live in Africa and I know that at some hours of the day, the only thing that "will do it" will be black and white.
    And I so like it.
    Some of those photos are of my blog: http://karineardault.typepad.com

  13. I love b&w. My husband tells me I would probably try to shoot a rainbow in b&w. Maybe. 🙂

    This picture is one of those that I tried in color, but it just didn’t have the same impact. This is my younger son, who seems to just have music in his soul, playing the new guitar that he got for Christmas. He was sitting on our couch, playing it for the very first time, and the shot I was composing was one of him looking down at the guitar while he tried to figure out how to make everything work. As I was hitting the shutter, he suddenly looked up at me, with this amazing intensity in his eyes. That intensity, along with the wonderful grain in the guitar, just didn’t come across in the color version. But the black & white just captured it perfectly.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenmarriner/3158242538/

  21. I love a good b&w photo. I’m still seeking out different ways to acheive certain levels of black-and-white-ness. Some look better softer, with more grays, some look better with more contrast & saturation – hard b&w. i have a few clients that always ask "you’re going to do some in b&w right?" …yeah! i love colors, but b&w too. there is just something about it.

    sometimes b&w can take away the distractions of the various colors and make you focus more intently on the subject.

    here is a self pic i shot the other day with the intentions of converting it to b&w
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/krstlchik/3424914135/in/set-72157614380485622/

    a couple i shot in b&w
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/krstlchik/3109775431/in/set-72157611210786611/

    and a family
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/krstlchik/3014873956/in/set-72157608775825262/

  24. To be honest, I don’t know what color photo will make a good B&W. I’m so enamored with color and light and rarely see the world in black & white.

  25. i love black and white photography and i love shooting with film, even pinhole cameras – T

    shot with b/w film this is one of my favorites from a hs assignment (recognize my mom?)
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterxdown/2453893295/in/set-72157601955733630/

    most cemetery shots are destined to be black and white – this is one of my favorites from oakland cemetery in atlanta taken long before i had a good camera
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterxdown/1390207154/

  33. I rarely produce black and white images as I’m often taken with the beauty of color – subtle, bold, playing with the processing, etc. That said, I often enjoy other people’s beautiful photos in black and white and I can appreciate the simplicity it can bring to a photo. That simplification can certainly enhance the artist’s intended focus.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/gina_d_photos/1850166458/

  48. This is one of my favorite black and white images. I shoot digital as well and tend to not really think in black and white. The only reason I even thought of converting this shot is someone asked if they could use the image for a pencil drawing and it got me thinking about what it would look like in gray scale. I am SO glad I did, there really is no comparison between the color and black and white version. Its one of those images that was really destined for back and white 😀

    Hank of the Lazy HK Bar:
    http://lizstabbertphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/4332952_FYSyb#254158315_nXmun-A-LB

  49. I love black and white…it can make light and shadows sing, and it can save an image that is a little blah in color….I love the way it emphasizes texture and also negative space.

    This post inspired me to go back through my public flickr stream and create a set of my b/w images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pumpkinoodle/sets/72157616500347023/

    …but I think my all time fave is the second image in this post: http://babymoonphotography.com/blog/?p=240

    Awesome post, Tracey! 🙂

    xoxo,
    Lilia

  50. I LOVE black and white. Fortunately ever since getting Lightroom, I do a lot more converting to BW (PShop is just way too flat and limiting, imo). I’ll try to limit what I offer you but I have numerous BWs. Thanks for asking us to share them today!!

    meander: http://dianeschuller.aminus3.com/image/2009-01-30.html

    or
    http://dianeschuller.aminus3.com/portfolio/ (several to choose from at a glance)
    and
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/27458974@N00/sets/72157612292218554/

    I find that I LOVE flowers in black and white.

  58. black and white is my favorite, and obviously much better when it’s a picture that really just needs to be b&w for whatever reason! I kind of really like sepia too maybe because it makes me think its even older than b&w photos? haha

  63. I think b+w tells a story the way nothing else can. In my high school days, there was nothing sweeter than roll after roll of Ilford and every chance I got to spend in the darkroom at school. Now i’d have to drive 45 minutes to find a store that carried/developed b+w. Today I swear by gradient maps and bright/contrast adjustments in PSE.

    My shot from yesterday just had to be b+w

    http://heatherk.typepad.com/photography/2009/04/easter-best.html

  75. I love black and white processing. I know exactly what you mean when I know a shot can only be black and white. I have been playing a lot with dark light, and those generally need to be black and white. I love the vintage, nostalgic feel it gives pictures. I think it gives pictures more of a feeling, instead of being straight forward like color. I would love to go back to shooting with only black and white film.