{"id":3341,"date":"2019-09-03T11:27:15","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T23:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.belindalansleyphotography.co.nz\/?p=3341"},"modified":"2019-09-03T11:27:15","modified_gmt":"2019-09-02T23:27:15","slug":"why-choose-black-and-white-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belindalansleyphotography.co.nz\/2019\/09\/03\/why-choose-black-and-white-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"Why choose Black and White Photography?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Classic black-and-white photography is timeless. I can\u2019t emphasise enough how wonderful monochrome photos are. Here are my top 10 tips on why you should choose black-and-white photography over colour.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As I mentioned above black-and-white photography is timeless. Check out the great masters such as Henri Cartier-Bresson<\/a>. Back in his day there was no colour photography, he only had black-and-white to work with. He was also working with film, not digital. He had only a few chances to get the photo before the moment was gone and he didn’t want to waste his roll of film. He used to wait until the exact perfect moment and then hit the shutter. <\/span>When you get black-and-white photography for your portrait – it brings you back to that day when photos were very precious, fleeting and timeless. \u00a0This photo below I took just a few years ago, but you would think it could have been taken during the Cold War. \u00a0Black and white makes it timeless.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you go for a monochrome print in a black or white frame it will match every single type of house. It doesn\u2019t matter if your favourite colour is red or blue or green, a black and white photo will never date and will always be on your wall, whatever colour it is, and still good look good 20 years after it was taken. \u00a0And hopefully even longer!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When I say this, I\u2019m thinking of the movie stars and musicians of way back. \u00a0Think of Elvis Presley or James Dean. \u00a0Think of Marilyn Munro. \u00a0Check out the work of Richard Avedon<\/a>\u00a0a famous American portrait artist. He focused on lighting and posing to create timeless images that are so cool. There is no reason why you cannot replicate the style in black-and-white in modern times with amazing lighting and posing and thinking outside the box.<\/span><\/p>\n This can be a very good thing because clothing can be very bright and sometimes garish.\u00a0 It can easily date a photo and in another 20 years you will look back at the photo and cringe. With black-and-white photography the clothing fades into the background and this can be a good thing. The focus suddenly goes onto the face which is the most important part of the portrait. \u00a0These three children I photographed a few years ago and the black and white images makes their clothing recede.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Suddenly you were looking at the people faces and looking at their expressions and hugs with no other distractions. Check out the work of Niki Boon<\/a>, a photographer up in Blenheim, who photographs her own children and who has a lovely classic style. Everything she does is in black-and-white. And her children\u2019s facial expressions become the star as they play in the river or on the farm. \u00a0Check out this award winning family photo I took a couple of years ago, where you can’t help but see the facial expressions of the family.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n1. It is timeless. <\/span><\/h5>\n
2. Black-and-white photos go with every decor.<\/h5>\n
3. Black-and-white photography is the epitome of cool. <\/span><\/h5>\n
4. Clothing is not as prominent in black-and-white photos.<\/h5>\n
5. In black-and-white photography relationships and facial expression\u2019s become key.<\/h5>\n
6. Black-and-white photography can be very moody.<\/h5>\n