Color me black and white

Even though colours add a new dimension to photographs, giving it life and energy, there are some photos that look better in black and white. You drain all the colour out of these frames and they still amaze you. They are a lot like charcoal drawings. Even though there are various shades and varieties of paints with which you can express yourself, the depth and intensity of a charcoal drawing stands unparalleled.

But not every photograph looks good in black and white. Here, the composition of the frame has to be very strong and the only reason that it looks good without colour is that adding colour to the frame dilutes the intensity of the photograph.

Try to not have too much clutter in the photograph. Many objects means you will have many many shades of grey in the photograph and unless the subject of the photo really stands out, the composition will not be very clear.

Here are some of my black and white shots…

 Sealdah, Kolkata

 Gangasagar mela transit camp, Kolkata

Chhat puja at Babu ghat, Kolkata

Kumartuli, Kolkata

random timepass at home :P

Winter fog at Maidan, Kolkata

Streets of North Kolkata

Kumartuli, Kolkata

Then again, people generally don’t take photographs keeping at the back of their mind that they have to take a black and white shot. Good black and white shots are hard to get. So whenever you take a photograph, think once about how the photo would look in black and white, and if you’re lucky, you will have created an amazing black and white shot.

 

Keep clicking!

-Shutterbug.