In all the years that I have been photographing people, I think I've only been asked once why only a handful of images were in black and white and the rest in colour -- why wasn't there a black and white copy of all the images?!
The short of it; 'because I said so!'.
I'm never ever that abrupt [if at all!] with clients.. but that's the full truth of why an image is delivered in black and white.. and that's the case for every other photographer I know.
Now, there are probably other photographers out there who will deliver an entire gallery in colour and in black and white, and I'm not saying that's wrong!.. that's just not how I roll.
I have an easy way of deciding whether an image will be in black and white or in colour:
1. Are there distracting colours?
2. Are there too many colours that clash?
3. Is the lighting unflattering?
4. Is this an emotional image?
Rather than telling you why, let me show you..
This image.
How gorgeous is Bec! We recently photographed Bec and Alex's gorgeous surprise wedding in Melbourne and it was THIS very image that made me want to share why I chose to deliver some images in black and white, over delivering them in colour.
..notice the big orange '7' in the background.. and all over the front of the Network 7 building? I guarantee it was one of the first things that popped out at you!
Take a closer look. What else distracts you from looking at Bec and her absolutely stunning dress?
Now, take a look at the black and white version..
You are instantly drawn to Bec's face as she steps off the boat.
You're drawn to the beautiful detail on her dress and the movement in the fabric.
You're NOT drawn to the ugly '7' in the background because it doesn't stand out anymore.
But if you scroll back to the colour image, you realise that there were distracting objects that you hadn't even realised were distracting..
..the buildings don't really fade into the background; they still stand out.
..the colour of the boat cabinetry stands out.
..and even though the bridesmaids are in blue, the canopy of the boat is too much for this image.
Of the two images, the black and white draws your eye to exactly where I want it, because the distractions are gone. It also makes the image look more 'high-end' because the colours in the background don't clash and make it look 'tacky'.
Now, if you're a photographer and a couple are specifically going for an 'out there' colour scheme and they have all the colours, then you would photograph that for them and deliver it in colour, but if you aren't overly excited about sharing those images on your blog or in your portfolio because those images don't show the kind of images you want to produce for couples in the future, then you can either leave those images off your blog and your portfolio or produce a black and white edit to share with people [just be sure to deliver the black and white to your client, too].
When we came back to photography this year [after a rough year with our little prem baby], we wanted to start fresh and do things differently. For me, this meant introducing a new editing style as well.
I removed all the old images from my old editing style and replaced them with new ones so that prospective clients would have a more accurate idea of the images I would deliver to them.
So there is absolutely no harm in only sharing the images that you want to produce more of in the future. If anything, you're doing yourself and your clients a favour by showing them EXACTLY what they can expect from you!
Here's another image.
I actually don't think I've ever shared a SOOC [straight out of camera] image before, but it's important you understand.
Sometimes lighting isn't flattering. Everyone looks gorgeous in candlelight.. not always when they've been photographed in it.
Bec and her parents were standing in an almost completely candlelit room.
Outside was really grey as it had begun raining, but the sun had also started to set.
Most of the room was also made of glass - floor to ceiling. Which would be beautiful for natural light, but when you need to change an image from being incredibly 'warm' to 'cool', that glass is going to turn quite blue.
I could have shot this image at a much lower kelvin setting, but that wouldn't have changed the colour of the glass, it still would have given me the following image.
We fixed the orange skin tones from the candlelight [and the rust-orange wall opposite them] but the blue background doesn't look natural at all and the highlights from the overhead lighting looks a little too harsh.
All of a sudden, we have zero distractions and a much more appealing image overall.
Here's another image.
As much as I still love this image. There's still distractions. But not only are there distractions, it's an emotional image.
It's love. It's gentle. It's calm.
When it's made black and white, the emotion of the image comes through stronger and the distractions are instantly removed, allowing the viewer to see only the gentle, calming, love-filled moment.
Have a play around.
Sometimes I see an image in the back of my camera an instantly know it's meant to be black and white; like this one..
Sometimes I don't know until I see it in black and white! There's no 'right' or 'wrong' when it comes to photography and the way we see moments through our cameras. Try things out.. learn new techniques.. you might surprise yourself!
Comments