Black and White
By Jim
@jayperiod (870)
United States
January 19, 2007 8:26pm CST
Does anyone still make black and white photos? I find that shooting black and white takes a different eye. It's almost as if you have to see in shades of gray rather than color. I like the stories a black and white photo can tell, especially of older subjects.
7 responses
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
21 Jan 07
I love Black and White. In fact, my DSLR has an option to take B&W pictures. Many color pictures I just change on photoshop for B&W.
1 person likes this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
11 Feb 07
I have Sony alfa, because I can use all of my Minolta lenses. I like it very much.
1 person likes this
@jayperiod (870)
• United States
21 Jan 07
Wow, what kind of DSLR do you have? That's cool that you can change it on the camera.
I think I'd still prefer to take it in color, though, and just change it in the software. You can make so many adjustments to the contrast and lighting from Photoshop. Plus, if you take it in color, you can do things with that.
@ediza02 (107)
• Philippines
21 Jan 07
I love black and white photos. They make all pictures beautiful if you have the eyes to appreciate the beauty of shades and shadows. Sometimes, when I get pictures in colored and it is not really that good, I am often satisfied after editing it, change the color to black and white. Although I am born in colored photograph generation but I still do appreciate the beauty of black and white photos bring. The bottom line is, it really depends on the person looking at the photograph, how appreciative he/she is.
1 person likes this
@jayperiod (870)
• United States
21 Jan 07
Glad to see there are still people who appreciate black and white. You're right, the shades and shadows really bring attention to the details. I think we tend to see color and since it's what we are used to seeing, we overlook things.
I think people tend to appreciate black and white more than they know. Again, it causes us to look at things differently. If a photo stands out in black and white, people will appreciate it.
I also think you can do more with irregular lighting in black and white. Harsh lighting from one side in black and white tells a story. In color it just says that the lighting was wrong.
@cristlegirl (817)
• United States
11 Feb 07
I love B&W photograpy, I think it has more of a personal look to it. You really have to look at the picture to see what was around them and what they are feeling and doing, it also adds some mystery to it. I can't really explain why but black and white photos allways have drawn my attention more then colored photos.
1 person likes this
@SwayingThunder (444)
• United States
20 Jan 07
Oh I love black and white photos. I still use a film camera for most of my picture taking and I just took a full roll of nothing but black and white. It's winter in North Carolina and the black and white pics are stunning. My husband and I just had professional portraits done also and the one I got in the 11X13 size was a black and white.
1 person likes this
@jayperiod (870)
• United States
20 Jan 07
Winter is one of those seasons that really lends itself to black and white. It seems that everything is already in shades of gray. The contrast is so vivid and that's what makes a great b&w photo.
Thanks for the comments and keep shooting those black and whites. Let's not let the art die.
@FishStick (102)
• Belgium
21 Jan 07
I still love black & white. I love it to turn pictures into black and white to make the pictures more grungy.
1 person likes this
@tomoe_spy (260)
• Philippines
21 Jan 07
I still make black and white photos specially if i'm taking pictures of people, it makes my picture more dramatic in effect
@craftwave (1338)
• United States
20 Jan 07
My favorite picture of my youngest daughter's senior picture was done in black and white. I don't see it to often but I like black and white photos. That is if they are done right. I think just having an eye for different values of shades and hues will help you take better black and white photos.
1 person likes this
