Do you mix black and white ...

[je ne regrette rien]

<p>When you conceive and compose a photographic series?<br>

L.</p>

[derek_kennedy]

<p>Im interested in what others have to say as well.</p>

<p>Ive recently purchased a new printer so Ive been printing a lot (for me) lately but mostly b&w images. I also started printing enough that I can create a series but with one series one of the prints might have to be in colour and Im not sure if that will work or not (2 b&w, 1 in colour?).</p>

[riz]

<p>I won't do for series/theme, but for random photographs there would be mix and black & white ones will be in majority.</p>

[tonmestrom]

<blockquote>

<p>When you conceive and compose a photographic series?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>no, not in a series. In a exhibition it would depend.</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>I shoot exclusively in color so I empty my printer cartridges equally. :)</p>

[Norma Desmond]

<p>Luca, I mix them in my overall work and I also mix them in series and slideshows. I find it can really help emphasize certain things and help create a kind of rhythm as well.</p>

[derek_kennedy]

<p>Fred:</p>

<p>That makes a lot of sense - the 'emphasize certain things' part.</p>

[jtk]

<p>I virtually always visualize a print when I make a photograph...usually B&W, and I virtually always print it or a nearby frame of it.</p>

<p>However, B&W can sometimes distractingly add or exaggerate something that color would not (B&W can be too melodramatic, even for me). In other words, I do see a specific kind of relationship between B&W and color. Given that, I can accept a few color images among my B&W. Some of my color prints might almost be thought of as B&W, can be printed effectively either way.</p>

<p>Here's my main question: Assuming digital and RAW, if I can't visualize the image in my own kind of B&W do I even want to make the photograph?</p>

<p>One answer is "Yes. Sometimes I can use color as a sort of relief in the midst of B&W."</p>

<p>As well, color's sometimes necessary to tell a story (provide information, make somebody happy).</p>

<p>...and that's just me. I've recently seen wonderful, huge exhibits in which one photographer worked only in B&W (spartan desert scenes near Mexico border) and another worked exclusively in color (mostly blue/white Antarctic scenes. Either could have gone either way but both had specific and unmixed commitments.</p>

[scott_murphy_photography]

<p>Some images look better in color, others in black and white. Let the image be your guide. It is perfectly acceptable, and even encouraged, to have a mixture of color and black and white.</p>