b/w photography
Out of context: Reply #10
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- CAJTBr0
though there are the technical issues (tonal range,contrast, etc) that people have mentioned, i think the main difference is not technical at all, it's just about what you're trying to do.
the main difference in using black and white (over desaturating) is that you're doing something by design at the time of taking the picture - you're producing a black and white photo. if you're using colour and then desaturating when you think it suits the photo, then it's really an afterthought more than by design. b&w will change the mood of a photo completely. take for example jana_reflection.jpg on your site (bacillo2). nothing in the photo is in focus (maybe the camera tried to focus on the wall because the subject was too near). the warm colours and the lack of focus make it look like a happy intimate moment. if you desaturate it, then you end up with a flat, out of focus photo of an unhappy looking girl (though the textures on her shirt are a lot more apparent, something i hadn't noticed that much in the colour image). the point is, if you'd had colour film in your camera, you would have composed a totally different image, taking the medium you were using into account.
your photos mostly look like snapshots taken with a lomo or something like that. the colours are one of the things that make this kind of photo look good, they're usually just things that capture a moment. b&w is something you have to think about and compose much more, because you're moving one further level of abstraction from reality. if you're wanting to take point-and-shoot, not-thought-through snapshot type stuff, then i think colour is usually better & will give you a better hit-rate of images that look good.
if you're just wanting to try out b&w, but don't want the expense and time of sending your stuff off to a lab, use ilford xp2 or kodak t-max cn, which are c41 processed meaning your regular high-street lab will do them at the same price as colour.