Black and White Photography has been around as long as cameras have been available. Monochrome image photography is a form of art. There is no question that shooting an image in vibrant color and then the same image in black and white instantly changes the feel. Suddenly the image appears simplistic, almost vacant and reeking of minimalism.
I have always been a bit of a minimalist which is perhaps why I appreciated have always appreciated and been drawn to Black and White Photography. I like that it changes the mood downward in some instances and just the opposite in others. Additionally, shooting in Monochrome is typically a great conversation starter as there are typically some vehement opinions on both sides of the discussion.
I tend to utilize Black and White Photography sparingly, however, am always looking for an opportunity to do so. It really depends on the situation, the subjects, overall environment and most of all I need to be able to justify to myself initially why shooting in Monochrome would improve the feel of the image. I wrote a blog awhile back about shooting in Traverse City and a young lady I encountered sitting on a dock close to downtown at Apache Trout Grille. It’s a good read at how the feel of the image changed completely based on the lack of visible color.
The image above is a relatively old bike, however, looked like brand new when I shot this image for a client. He wanted to hang images of his bike in his office at his place of employment. I took many images of the bike in color and then an additional group using only Black and White Photography. The difference in the images between color and monochrome is stunning. As slick and fast as it looked in color the bike looked even tougher and even looked like it would sound louder in the monochrome images. He ended up using all of the Black and White images as the art he commissioned me to shoot. Having said that, his wife used the color images at their house, since she had a completely different viewpoint of the images that were void of color.
If you have any questions about shooting in black and white or need a shoot of your own, feel free to contact me anytime.
Johnny Yen
Rebel Miles Photography
231.300.1010
jy@rebelmilesphotography.com
“Just Being Yourself Is A Successful Rebellion…”
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