Color or BW wedding? when to use which?

[salvador_ochoa]

I just shot my first digital wedding about a week ago in black and

white. I wasn't the main photographer but decided to try some new

ideas and document the wedding like a photojournalist. I just want to

get your opinions as to how to know when to use B&W or color. I

posted the selected images from my shoot on <p>

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www.pbase.com/salvadorochoa<p>

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and it would be nice if you could provide some input as to what went

wrong and what went right and if BW looks good or if color would have

been better.

Thanks a lot,

SaL+

[steve_levine]

Why wouldn't you shoot digital in color, and desaturate to B&W? If you shoot B&W digital, there isn't any way to add color.

[al_kaplan1]

There's a lot more to the decision to choose B&W than just how it looks on the computer screen. Some people, clients and photographers both, consider the archival qualities of a correctly processed fiber based silver print, possibly lightly selenium toned. Others prefer the look, the depth, it gives you. The ability to choose which film, which developer, are lost when shooting digital, and both do have an effect on the final image.

[juan_su]

I agree with what Steve said. If you are already shooting digital, you can have it both ways. Personally I shoot film and now have started to shoot with two cameras. One has BW film with a different lens while another camera has colour. There some shots that would simply work better for me and my clients in BW. But typically, one of the main advantages of using BW film is when there are tough indoor lighting conditions. If you can't do proper white balancing, you might want to go with BW. I'm sure others will other tips.

[timcorridan]

i'm a film amature, but i would imagine that if you shot 36 digital shots a day in just black and white, you would learn what works the best, forcing you to see what works...kinda like the best way for a film shooter to learn exposure is to shoot slide. if your on the clock, steve is of course right on...

[blakley]

<i>If you shoot B&W digital, there isn't any way to add color.

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Steve, man, grab a coffee. It's much easier to add color in Photoshop than using Marshall's oils!

[al_kaplan1]

Marshall's Oils looks so cool and retro! The bigger problem would be finding some Ansco Allura K paper and sepia toner!

[stephen hazelton]

Just keep in mind that half the people that ever see a B&W picture consider it to be defective because it isn't color.

[lex_jenkins]

Well, yeh, but the other half see b&w photos as beautiful classic mementos that connect them to a real or imagined past. I wouldn't give up one or the other.

[al_kaplan1]

Right on! You tell 'em, Lex! B&W rules!

[jasonsmith]

The great benefit to shooting with BW Film is that you can print in a darkroom on BW paper. You cant do this with colour film, or digital. Anyone has ever made good BW prints will appreciate that a beautiful print on BW paper is something that shooting digital and desaturating simply cannot match.

 

A BW image has an imediate arty feel because it is somewhat abstract given that we see in colour.

 

And I agree with Al - My uncle just gave me some Tri X Negs (I still shoot this) from the 1940s.

 

I cant imagine passing down a Hard Drive, or some CF Cards to my children in 30 or 40 years. Given that File formats change every few years how will you purely digital shooters know what images you have in 20 years time.

[djphoto]

Personally, I've found that I can make B&W prints from digital files that please me every bit as much as the ones I printed in the darkroom--and I was a pretty decent printer. And good B&W prints from digital files are much easier to do.

 

Now that I've made the switch, I enjoy shooting everything in color and giving my clients the choice. I have some simple actions that convert my color files to B&W and also to sepia. I put all three versions of every photo on the proof CD. The clients really like it, and so far it has resulted in the sale of additional album pages.

 

I realize this is heresy at worst and a cop-out at best, but I think it's great to be able to do things like this. Digital is the answer to this old photographer's dreams!

[jasonsmith]

Dave

 

Dont get me wrong - I use Digital as well - to the extent that I scan my negs and use Photoshop. I did a wedding a few months ago where the bride had braces. With photoshop I gave her a new set of teeth and applied Marc's Dreamy B&W conversion. She was happy with the result.

 

However - if you have ever seen a well shot negative on medium (or even better large format) skilfully printed there is absolutely no comparison. Some of the most beautiful prints I have seen are large format contact prints.

 

Horses for courses I guess - I do wonder about the future though. I am glad for now that I have more than files on a hard drive to pass down to my kids.

[elizabeth_f1]

Hi Sal, I have shot over 100 weddings and to answer your question, it is ultimately the bride's decision. Some brides want all b&w, some all color, some want both. A very popular choice for most brides is to shoot primarily color except for shots of just the bride and groom. I always emphasize the fact that a color photo can always be turned into a b&w one (to date I have not had anyone request that a color photo be made into a b&w one). This is a service industry and making your clients happy is the primary goal. Hope this helps.