To Black & White Or Not To Black & White

By David Beckstead

It used to be so simple. When asked to, most photographers would just shoot black and white here and there at weddings and just charge a little more for their trouble. A few wedding photographers have told me that they can visualize what would look good in black and white and shoot accordingly, but not many of us share this talent. Most wedding photographers including myself just shoot black and white here and there at the bride's request. There's never really any true art or creativity in how, why, or when we use black and white.

Then along came digital cameras, which have changed the artistic compositional concepts of black and white forever--opening up a whole new monochrome world for many photographers. For me, the art of black and white became truly apparent after the wedding, during my workflow on the monitor.

Using monochrome as a compositional tool is not new. Some of the most well known photographers photographed in monochrome. They chose black-and-white film over color because of its unique compositional impact. Only unique artists can show us something dynamic and different in the monochrome medium. The rest of us just seem to be playing around with nostalgia. I would like to introduce some key concepts and elements that make a case for choosing to convert to a monochrome medium or not: depth, emotion, mood, lines, light and a quirky one--mistakes.

Depth
Color depth is very real and important to a successful black-and-white conversion. Your eyes can distinguish shades of color easier than shades of gray. Often when an image is converted to black and white, the layers of color end up being very similar in gray value, thus creating the illusion of decreased depth. When is the decrease of color depth a detriment to the image composition?

Image 1		Image 2

Here is a great visual for you: The first image has a really nice feel, but it seemed to me it would be worth converting. (Image 1)

So what happened? This conversion is just not that strong. It has weakened and flattened the nice color depth between her skin and veil. The delineation between her shoulder skin and veil gets lost along with the wonderful, warm quality of the light. (Image 2)

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Here is a successful black-and-white conversion where subtracting color depth was useful and helped highlight a compositional element such as a shadow. (Image 3)

This is a nice shot. Yet it does not convey my true intention for creating this image in the first place. (Image 4)

Converting to black and white highlights the real reason this image was conceptualized; the shadow cast through the Spanish veil lace. One reason this shot works well in monochrome is the angle of direction and crop I chose, which put almost all the information on a single plane with little depth to start. By eliminating color depth, I can remove color distractions (her lips and skin) and direct the viewer's eye to the shadow and lace.

Emotion
Subtracting depth can be effective if used for the purpose of strengthening a compositional concept such as emotion. Color can draw a viewer's eye from one place to the next, but sometimes in an order or direction not wanted by the photographer. Black-and-white conversion can eliminate distracting color depth--enhancing line and shape, guiding the viewer through a photograph and strengthening the emotional content of a composition. When the skin of a subject goes to a middle shade of gray, for example, your eyes are drawn in to the darker lines of the mouth, eyes and facial features. Eyes and mouth are often the key features for expressing emotion. Toss the color, crop tighter and the emotional story is augmented visually.

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Here is an illustration of what I mean by strengthening the emotional connection between viewer and image content. (Image 5)

Nice shot! But… (Image 6)

This image just says "passion!"

Mood
Black-and-white conversion has the ability to actually change the mood and feeling of an image--taking a lighter-feeling image concept to a darker, moody one. Think about what quality of feeling you want to convey in your story or image.

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Most of the time when I convert an image to monochrome to enhance a mood concept I go darker. I liked this image out of the camera but it needed something. (Image 7)

I decided to employ a different mood by going darker. (Image 8)

Lines
A photographer's ultimate goal is to guide the viewers' eyes to the story being told. One of the easier elements to highlight by converting to black and white is lines. Depth, mood and emotion can be three-dimensional and conceptually abstract. Lines, being easier to see, can be a simpler way to judge whether or not a black-and-white conversion will be successful. Interesting architectural or environmental lines are sometimes the sole reason for a photograph, so it is natural to want to enhance these elements by converting to black and white.

Here are some examples where lines are enhanced by converting to black and white.

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Light
Being able to find, see, understand and use light effectively is one of the most sought after and most difficult skills to learn for a photographer. Photographers with these skills are well respected in the wedding photography industry, however, there is no final level of learning with light: it is a constant evolution of expanding your knowledge, and one should never decide that the journey is over.

Monochrome can reveal the pure white strength of light. The conversion process will often expand light rays within your composition and make them more powerful. How? Light rays have a color range often from darker yellow on the outside to white in the middle. Background colors from objects such as a wooden floor or colored carpet influence the edges of these rays. Converting to black and white and removing color depth eliminate the color influence of the background. Rays seem to pop. Light seems enhanced.

The above applies even though light is often not formed into rays we can distinguish easily. It is up to you to see the light and decide if monochrome will enhance your light, story or concept.

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While this shot is nice, there are plenty of background distractions. (Image 13)

This is more about the light. You can see the light and then enhance it through the monochrome medium. (Image 14)

I see many images converted to black and white that have lost the warmth, power and color beauty of the light. Just because you have captured the light does not automatically mean you should convert to black and white. All images should be judged on the monitor to evaluate a set of concepts you want for the final image when deciding to convert or not to convert.

Conclusion
I have often heard photographers say you can't process a poor image and make it better. However, sometimes an image will not end up being good technically but the emotion, the story and the importance of the image is still there. A black-and-white conversion is just what an image that might otherwise be considered poor for any number of technical reasons needs to become something dramatic, contemporary, abstract, moody or just different enough to be worth a second look.

The monochrome medium is not a fad or trend. The compositional concepts you can apply when converting to black and white give the photographer a powerful option to magnify the impact and beauty of the final image. The computer monitor and the conversion software are also important tools in the decision-making process of whether to convert images to black and white or not.

David Beckstead lives out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere, NE Washington. David mixes his passion for art and travel to run a destination wedding photography business. He attributes his success to the Internet, pro forums, digital cameras, seminars and WPPI. Kassandra, his wife and business partner, shares his passions. Together they have successfully mixed their lifestyle with their business.