It’s a Black & White World

So, long ago, maybe before you were born, people used to take pictures with film that showed only 2 colors, black & white, and some people would argue that those aren’t even colors at all. I’m not going to get into that argument, I’m just going to show you some results from my recent experimentation with black & white film.

Here’s a few of my images – taken with my Olympus OM-4 and Kodak Tri-X Professional film. The first one is black & white Holly. She doesn’t look too different. Next, is the pizza guy, at Home Slice Pizza in Austin, doing his thing with some pizza dough. And, last is a photo of some daisies.

I love the simplicity, the pure untainted-ness, of black & white. It’s great to learn with because it helps you to focus on basics like composition, without colors getting in the way. Textures, basic composition and your subject matter seem more important with black & white.

Here’s a couple photos in color – the dogs, and a daisy – to compare. The black & white images look, well, black & white, but it’s more than just that. They have an artistic look that seems to be spoiled, or ruined, with color – the black & white images have a simplicity that makes them interesting.

I’d encourage you to experiment with black & white as you do your film thing. It’s fun to think about pictures without thinking about color. Focus on shapes, texture and light in your compositions. Try to make your photos interesting regardless of colors. It’s fun.

Next time I’ll have a review of my new, old toy. a Yashica D twin lens reflex camera that I bought on eBay. I’ll shoot a roll of 120 film or 2 and let you know how my experience is with medium format film!