Black and white wedding photography.

Like most people in my demographic, my first exposure to photography was in fact all black and white. It’s what was taught in school, and it was during my first year at art school that I learned how to shoot black and white, and develop and print in the darkroom.

Years later, when I worked commercially, obviously my work was primarily in colour, but my passion is black and white, and in most cases, for most weddings, it still is. It’s how I “see” ( i know that sounds pretentious) but it’s just how it is. I look for the light, contrast, shadows and “the moment” and when I show a colour version of the same image that was processed as black and white, it just doesn’t have the same feeling. The intimacy of the moment is enhanced when it’s a black and white image.

For the past twenty years, the majority of the work I’ve produced has been black and white.

Now, does that mean I don’t “shoot colour” - no, because the camera shoots in colour, but I just happen to set it to a black and white image and shoot like that and then deliver that. Colour is often reserved for portraits, details, and environmental images.

I show all black and white in my portfolio because it’s what I want to show - and it’s what most people want from me. Can a digital file go both ways? Yes, it’s a raw file and a colour version is the default out of camera, I just happen to be better at making a black and white image look a certain way than colour!

I know this argument may seem a little strange now in a time of presets and the ability to do just about anything we want to an image, but rest assured, this is a valid point. There are photographers that have spent their entire careers only shooting colour, and as many who only shoot black and white. Colour is hard to work with because we often look at certain colours and tones and react to them in a certain way - and often colours distract us from what we’re seeing in an image.

The bottom line is this - if you love black and white images I’m your guy. If you love candid images and want documentary style work but want ONLY colour - I can also do that, but black and white is my first choice in the finished product I deliver.