I”m back blogging after a few weeks off for this week’s topic of Black and White.
I LOVE color. My favorite time of year for photos is autumn – i adore the reds, oranges and yellows of this season. Color is eye catching. It brings attention to images. I find the mood for color to be “happy” and “positive”.
I find myself doing more black and white lately, though. Black and white depicts a certain “mood”. Maybe the image will gain something without color? Maybe there will be more emotion somehow added?
I find black and white images work well for the “Memory Sessions” that I offer – sessions where the family gets together with their senior or terminally ill pet to celebrate their life.
The following image is from a Memory Session with 18 year old Mickey from this past winter. The whole family got together to celebrate this sweet boy. Here is an image with Grandma and Grandpa. I find the black and white creates emotion – we can almost feel the love these two share with the dog.
Another way I use black and white is when i love an image but for some reason i just can not get the white balance or coloring to work no matter what I try! This happened recently after going through images from a session with sweet Zharia. I came across one image and I liked a lot about it – especially the composition and the expression on her face – but no matter what i did I could not make the image work in color. Her collar and flower were stunning colors that i didn’t think of black and white from the start. I resorted to giving it a try in black and white and it worked! I love it … and so did mom (she made purchase of this one!)
Here are the before and after images:
If something just isn’t working in color, always give it a go in black and white before you trash the image – it’s worth a shot!
Thanks for stopping by this week’s post! Next up in our pet photography blog circle is Pet Love Photography, serving Greater Cincinnati, the San Francisco Bay Area, and nationwide. Enjoy your weekend!
I have the color issue with white and black dogs. I was editing photos recently of a white dog and half of the dog’s face has a blue tint… only half though. Ugh! Those might be black and white!
I agree with that! The dreaded blue tine that will not go away – haha! Always worth trying in B&W 🙂
Color reflection is often a reason I will move to black and white. Good point!
Thanks, Elaine!
I could see why a memory session would lend to b/w tonality. It provides a mood that is way different than color.
You are so right that black and white conveys emotion. At least with me, it’s usuallly a sad emotion. I assume it’s that way with others as well. I wonder if people felt that way when all photos were black and white.
Yes, “sad” emotion… good question when images were black and white years ago – especially weddings!
Some of my favs! Great work – 1st tells a great story. Excited for you taking it all to the next level!!
Thanks Pete! I appreciate it! Woohoo!
Love the memory shot and I think you’re right, it conveys the perfect mood for the occasion. Beautiful shots.
Thanks, Uly!
I think both of the last two images work, but I do really like the B&W one. And B&W is great for conveying all the emotion of a memory session.
Thanks! I do find myself converting a lot to black and white in memory sessions – really does convey the emotion.
Black and white is great for emotional photos, and also for removing the distractions of colour. Zaria looks so sweet🙂
Thank you! She is a sweetheart!
Ah. That memory session. What a capture – so warm. I could feel the love pouring out of the image. And terrific job with the image of Zharia, I would have bought it too!