High Time for a new Blog. Still very much in lockdown but the chance of a week away shortly in a log cabin in the woods. Looking forward to it immensely.

In the meantime after seeing a post in FB asking for opinions as to whether an image should be black and white or left as colour. I started to think about the subject. Most of the participants chose black and white and I wondered why.

As humans we see the world in colour. (we would be rather upset if we could only see in black and white). But as photographers we seem to think that an image is improved when converted to black and white. Generally that is what it is - a conversion. Not so many of us are using black and white film these days. So why did so many people feel that the black and white version was the better. Is it because the popular view is that a photographer is a good photographer when their images are in black and white or is it because black and white improves an image.

My opinion is - a poor image is not improved just by converting it to black and white. It is still a poor image. Some images, and I would say very few images, can look outstanding in black and white. But the image has to be able to stand alone as a good image and converting to black and white only enhances what is already there.

My personal preference is always colour even in poor weather conditions. What I miss with black and white is the subtle differences in colour created by light. I want the viewer to experience what I have seen and that is colour. In the end it all comes down to preference and I feel that should be personal preference and not what we think we should say.

What is your opinion?

As always just enjoy taking photos