Do you see the world in Color or Black and White?

I am a very colorful person. I love bright, vibrant color. I often wear bright color accessories, love bright clothing on my kids, and just love color all around me. This love for color comes through in my photography too. I tend to express myself better in color.

So I got to thinking, do most people see the world in color or black and white? What makes you happy? When you shoot, do you imagine a color photograph or a black and white one? And if you prefer color, do you usually visualize in bright colors or pastels and more muted colors?

Every once in a while when I am editing, I decide to convert the photo to black and white. It usually is a struggle for me. The conversion itself is easy, but as I look, it rarely feels right. My work (99% of the time) feels right in color.

When viewing other photographers, I do sometimes feel they are “black and white” and that fits them. Sometimes a black and white photo takes away all distractions and allows for more emotion and focus. But still most of the time, color grabs me. It wins me over.

So next time you run to convert your photo to black and white, ask yourself why you are doing it. Is it because you see it in black and white? Or is it because your color was off and giving you problems. There is no right or wrong. But when you choose to have a photo as a black and white, a vivid color shot, or a vintage, ask yourself why and make sure you are choosing what feels right to you.

I would love everyone to share your images on the MCP Flickr Group in color and then black and white – tell us which you prefer, which speaks to you, and why.

I have shared a few of mine here, and would love your opinions of these as well. You already know how I feel about mine…

This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under Assignments, Featured Post, MCP Thoughts, Photography Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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