I am not sure if this question has ever been asked here on FM; but I would like to know why is it that most of you make your preparation shots black and white?
Really, it is just a simple question. Ricardovaste, my experience with black and whites have been done because the photos were film and were done in a darkroom. Form, is that your real name?
animosity on your second post here ever...well done.
I would think that because the prep time in nearly 100% pj shooting, and pj lends it self very well to B&W (because it brings more attention to the content rather than the color)
I think prep shots are made into black and white to give the perception of a more documentary feel. In my opinion I feel candids in black and white for some reason really show emotion from an outsider's point of view. Maybe it's elimination of distactions, colours, other people.
Another reason for many doing this is lighting.
During the morning prep there is usually lots of mixed lighting, tungsten, daylight, fluorescent etc...
Most don't want to spend too much time trying to balance it out, black and white fixes that easily
But B&W have always been a great nature of wedding photography, even though we shoot digital and in great color nowadays, B&W gives that nostalgic feeling to a lot of viewers.
Joel thanks for the answer. I see most weddings done in that manner and kind of thought that was something that your clients may request or maybe even something that was thought of as mood setting.
I don't make all my prep shots b&w, but when I do it's usually because the getting ready rooms are almost always messy and cluttered. B&W helps eliminate those distractions.
For me, it's usually for the reason that lilyphoto listed in the post above mine. Helps bring attention to the subject and emotions in the frame, and not the messy/ugly room in the background.
For me, it just depends what works better. A lot of times getting-ready is in mixed light or maybe there's just a lot of distracting colors in the room. Personally I LOVE black and white, it's not so much an excuse to not color correct as a stylistic choice for me.
99% of my shots are colour, and I find b&w processing not adding anything- just the opposite. But that's just me and I can easily understand that someone else sees it differently. That's what makes everyone so unique and our clients can pick whatever they like
