Pucker Up... and Smooch

Last week's post on post-processing discussed color post-processing. Today we'll talk about black and white photography. Frankly, I don't do a lot of b&w photography since it generally seems like a shame not to capture a baby's bright blue eyes, the wonderful glow of the sun backlighting junior's head and the vibrance inherit in childhood. Still b&w photography has it's place and when done right, packs an emotional punch. There are three occasions to go b&w:

1. When color doesn't add anything, but rather detracts from the moment.
2. When the composition is screwed up, b&w covers up all types of sins. If the shot is underexposed or the white balance is wrong, b&w is much more forgiving. Likewise, if your kid dressed themselves that morning and doesn't match, you're color blind or the background is distracting, no one has to know if you use b&w.
3. When you left the lens cap on your camera, but then the choice is made for you.

We'll just cover the first point since the others can be left as an exercise to the reader. b&w photography is all about the tones so dress appropriately. Weddings are easy in this respect since you have a bride in white and groom in black maximizing contrast. In this photo the columns had an almost pastel color whereas making them "white" made it seem more traditional. Overall, the photograph lets you focus on the light tracing the outline of the brides arm around her groom, the warm embrace and timeless kiss.... you can almost hear the smooching.

When I do go B&W, I try to mimic certain films in this case Kodax Tri-X. The rationale is, at least for those who remember using film, there's a certain comfort in the familiar (like a baby and it's pacifier or teddy). Finally, I add in a pinch of grain to the photograph for a bit of texture.

Okay, in case you wanted to see more children's photography, here's another shot which is a completely different take on b&w.