I'm doing a project on black and white photography and would like your opinions. What do you think are the pros and cons of a black and white photograph or black and white photography in general?

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Pro's Seems more elegant, different to the standard photo Cons can be unclear

Pros and Cons for a personal aesthetic? Because this is what black and white is currently. Well black and white can be harder to work with. You need to visualize tones of the photos and then get those tones- more then just middle grey. With the zone system you want to achieve zone 2-9,(the dynamic range) then the textual zones(3-8). But lets face it, if you were a photojournalist out in a war zone, you're not going to take the time to meter for the zone system. At one time black and white came in higher speeds then color film. Back to visualizing tones, you have to stand and think of how the tones will fall in the print- you can't rely on color. You are essentially making a different photo. One man's pro is another's con. It's easier and harder. You have more control over it- at least for film. I'm thinking purely film. Black and white with digital seems to be an after thought.

The gospel according to Joel Meyerowitz. If photos are meant to describe something more clearly than can be describe in words then color gives you more description than black and white. You lose 99% of the spectrum of light. However sometimes black and white is called for. It can be the case that the contrasts between positive and negative space can only be properly described in black and white. So all of that is just to say it's up to you. Sometimes it only works in BW and sometimes it only works in color. The rest is a personal opinion. I've seen guys who upload everything in both just because they can't decide.

Let's get into the reason why you should make a scene black and white instead of color. Black and white is more appropriate in many situations than color. It depends on the subject matter and what's in the scene (besides the subject). You're in an area of a major city that's run down really bad. MAYBE better to print that scene in black and white, BUT not always! Look at what you're capturing. Is the scene almost without color... or limited color? If so, it's probably better to make a black and white (monochrome) print. I ALWAYS shoot everything in 14 bit Adobe RGB uncompressed color mode and make the black and white conversion in post. One of the very BEST programs for doing this conversion is published by Nik Software. It's called Silver Efex Pro. If you get the full blown version, you will be able to add effects you probably never dreamed of before. And Silver Efex Pro will take the subtle differences in color... in shading, and PROPERLY convert to black and white. There is no "con" to either color or black and white. If you're shooting a scene that has beautiful color, a starkly red or rust colored brick wall is in the scene, do it in color. You are the one that makes the choice when you make the final changes for the print. It all depends on your vision... your imagination and creativity. Joseph Nowak http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_nowak/

Advantages of white: rich, beautiful, hard working, can play guitar well disatvantages of white: sometimes arrogant, cant jump high advantages of black: can mysteriously aquire items (stealing), good at making fried chicken, good at sports and dancing disadvantages of black: smell bad, ashy skin