In every gallery I deliver, my clients are usually pleasantly surprised to find quite a few of their photos duplicated into black and white. Browsing through my website and social media, most of my work is in color. You can see that I love the way green trees look at sunrise, the way brown eyes sparkle in the shade, the way a red dress can play against a blue river. I live my life in color because to me it is joy, expression, and life. I live my business in color because I want to help others feel the same through my photos. But still, black and white captivates me, and so I find myself delivering colorless photos every time.

Why? I can only describe a few reasons. The rest is just how looking at a black and white photo makes you feel, how it pulls you deeper into the image until you’re lost in the contrast. The feeling is hard to describe, but it’s easy to feel.

Here are 5 reasons why I deliver black and white photos.

#1. Black and white photos give you a new perspective of your day.

We live our lives in color. Everything we see is color, even if we don’t focus on it. A photographer is trained to see light and color in new ways, but sometimes we don’t even see it until we’re looking at our photos afterwards. We see light, contrast, shadows and highlights that create the moving picture in front of us. During your wedding, you probably don’t pause to look at your partner and imagine them looking at you in black and white. No, instead you just see them looking back at you in the colors of love. Afterwards when you relive the best day of your life through your photos, you can see it in a whole new way, without color.

#2. They’re timeless.

We’ve all heard it before: black and white photos are timeless. But why? Photos in essence are “timeless” because they forever portray just one moment in time. To have the quality of timelessness means that it cannot be affected by time; the dress can go out of style, the venue can shut down, the landscapes surrounding us can change every season, and society can change the way we see everything. But the way you two look at each other is timeless. The way a father hugs a daughter after the ceremony is timeless. Color gives a sense of time and place, but black and white preserves that moment forever and can never change it.

#3. The eye is drawn to lines, shapes, and contrast.

Without the distraction of color, black and white images are entirely shades of light and dark. We follow the curves of fingers, of figures, of features, and we allow the photo to guide us to where we need to be.

#4. Black and white photos emphasize emotion.

Color creates atmosphere, but black and white creates mood. Emotions are prominent without color because they are without distraction, without surrounding detail, and without force. Blue ties, yellow walls, color paintings no longer grab at attention. Instead, it’s hands, faces, people, and what we can imagine they’re feeling. Intimacy, sorrow, joy, and love are all there without distraction.

#5. Black and white photos don’t distract you from what’s truly important.

In black and white, it isn’t about what you’re wearing, or where you are, or what color the details are. It’s about who you’re with, what you’re feeling, and why you’re there. Because in the end, it’s all about you.

Check out how black and whites add to a recent wedding and engagement!

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