Black and white, color or both?

At the beginning of the year, I decided I had to have another photoblog for my black and white photography. I had been experimenting in PS and had come up with a considerable amount of shots I was ready to show off.

I’ve always been shooting color and only after I bought my digital camera I discovered the beauty of black and white. Like most photographers, I shoot in color and then convert to B&W. I don’t convert every single photo I take, but only those, at the moment of shooting, I pre-visualized would make a nice B&W or think would look great or even better once converted. There are color shots that simply don’t pop up. The more you look at them the more you feel something isn’t the way you expected. They are not bad shots at all, but still they appear somehow weak to your eyes. These shots I try to convert to B&W and most of the times they suddenly come alive and reveal hidden textures and appealing contrasts.

Other times, I come up with two versions of the same shot - one color and one black and white - that are equally rich in tones and contrast and this is when a few questions rise in my mind: which one to keep? Can it be a sign of indecision to have two versions of the same shot to show in my photoblog(s) or to submit to competitions? Or does the presence or the absence of color make the two versions two completely different and unique identities?

Here is an example:

This shot won a national competition as best nature shot

Winter Trees - ©2006 - Silvia Ganora

and this one was a nominee at the 2006 Black and White Spider Awards

Winter Bareness n.7 - © Silvia Ganora

To me, each version has something to say, whether in color or in black and white. Notice I also chose different titles to represent them.

So what’s your opinion? Am I puzzled by a trifle issue?

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Technorati Tags: black-and-white, photography, black&white, B&W

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Technorati Tags: black+and+white, B&W, photography, silvia+ganora, imagekind,