It's interesting how sometimes older technologies or art forms take on an even greater value when they are made obsolete by the new and modern. This is certainly true of black and white photography. When color photography came on the scene, it seemed the days of black and white in both video and photography were over forever.

In the past few years alone, we have seen the power of black and white on the big screens of your movie theaters and it has become a common staple in our fine art galleries and museums to have a photographic art display portrayed in black and white. This trend is being practiced from the professional level to those novices simply wanting to capture a unique and different family portrait. Combining its artistic qualities and emotional depth, black and white photography can provide new outlook different from the world of color.

Probably the strongest quality that grabs the viewer with a black and white photo is its emotional power. Even if the photo is just of an old barn or an antique car, there is an emotional appeal that is difficult to analyze in words but universal to all of us as we look at a black and white shot. That is why black and white photos almost instantly take on an artistic look. So if you are evolving your artistic photography style and portfolio, including some experimentation with black and white will do a lot to improve your work.

Black and white also brings focus to the emotional center of the image. What better way to capture emotion than the human face? Subtle changes of expression can dramatically change the feeling and depth of the photo. A slight tilt of the head or curve of the mouth can bring about a wide range of photos to choose from.

This brings about another benefit of black and white photography, it invites the person and their imagination to share in the image. The viewer almost always wants to know the story going on in the picture. If it is of an old man, humbled over with his cane, one might wonder of the places he has been and how much he has seen in his life. If the picture is a landscape, one might think of all of the events that have taken place there.

While emotional power and invoking the search for meaning makes for compelling reasons to incorporate black and white photography into one's portfolio alone, the romance of the genre is most certainly another. Black-and-white photography speaks to the simplicity and elegance that love often is. It has the ability to capture the thread of emotion and passion that touches the heart. A picture that might be considered lewd by the harshness of color, becomes an art form in the more subtle shadings of black and white. Try surroundings that incorporate moisture or water such as the beach, or the rain, or even the dew drops of early morning to bring about feelings of sensuality to the viewer.

You can experiment with black and white and gather the responses of friends and family to learn how to utilize the subtle but powerful artistic nuances that seem to come with black and white photography almost unconsciously. The digital camera has ushered in a whole new era of black and white photography. You see the form used even in otherwise non artistic settings like wedding portfolios or anniversary pictures. That is because of that emotional and romantic power that black and white conveys.

If you have not started to experiment with black and white shots, invest the time to learn how to express this art form. With creative use of light and framing that provide high contrast, black and white responds well to the editing that you can do with Photoshop in order to accentuate the emotion impact of each image. With a bit of time and practice, you will be able to take that shot that will become a treasured moment in time.

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