by Emma Wood
But what I ended up with was this.
Big surprise to me – but I just fell in love with the tones, the green and the delicacy of the colors. Nature has a way of doing that to me from time to time.
Of course, I had to have a play around with a bit of black and white, since that was my initial visualization.
Here I have almost the exact same shot with no color.
The first thing that I notice in the black and white images, is that with the colors gone, the details are so much more apparent. This is one of the things that I love about black and white images. Lack of distractions means that you can focus completely on the subject and you notice every tiny little thing. When using a macro lens, because of how close you can get to your subject, the details are even more amplified. I love how you can see the little seeds on the top of the dandelions, it almost looks like a pin-cushion.
I highly recommend playing around with your macro shots, have fun with it and discover what inspires you, what moves you, and what you are drawn to. As much as I love color, and in this case I did choose it initially, I know what the verdict is for me.
Emma Wood, United Kingdom
CM Mentor
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Although she’s British, Emma currently resides in Australia with her RAAF pilot husband and their 7 crazy kids. She loves any chance she gets to spend some one on one time with her children, watching a movie with her husband, or getting out and about and exploring new places. Emma starts her day with a Latte and can’t live without her earl grey tea, camera, iPhone, iMac, her hair straightener, and miso soup. Despite just recently, within the past few years, discovering photography as a means to document her children’s lives, she has always had a love for photography, “particularly black and white which stems from my love of black and white films when I was a child.” Her passion is black and white photography, often described as moody and earthy, and bringing out beauty from the most simple concepts. Emma arms herself with a Nikon D700, a variety of prime lenses, and a Lensbaby.
Read all photography tutorials by Emma Wood.
giveaway update!
Congratulations to the random winner Katherine who said, “I love to see black and white. It’s almost like it tells a story all by itself. My most favorite black and white photo is of my husband and our first daughter. She was just a month old and I happened to pic up the camera and snap their picture at the right moment. He picked her up out of her bassinet and held her in front of him. He looked at her and she at him. I had one of those old cameras where you put the film in and it so happened to have the b&w film in at that time. I am so glad because as a colored picture, it just wouldn’t have been the same. The most prized B&W photo possession ever!!” Please contact me at april@clickinmoms.com to claim your prize!
Would you like to learn more from Emma about her black and white process? Emma is giving away one copy of her eLearning product where she discusses visualizing and processing her black and white photography to one random winner! To enter, simply comment below telling us what you tend to prefer, color or black and white, by 12pm EST on Monday August 20, 2012. The winner will be announced in this post on the afternoon of the 20th so make sure you check back next week!
I love black and white!
I too love the detail that black and white affords… this is lovely!
I am in love with BW but also feel I don't know how to correctly use it. Would be honored to learn from the lovely Emma Wood! She captures such immense emotion and gorgeousness.
I love to see black and white. It's almost like it tells a story all by itself. My most favorite black and white photo is of my husband and our first daughter. She was just a month old and I happened to pic up the camera and snap their picture at the right moment. He picked her up out of her bassinet and held her in front of him. He looked at her and she at him. I had one of those old cameras where you put the film in and it so happened to have the b&w film in at that time. I am so glad because as a colored picture, it just wouldn't have been the same. The most prized B&W photo possession ever!!
I prefer black and white, but am starting to come around to color. Thanks for the chance to win a copy of her ebook!
I love both but I'm partial to black and white. There is just something about a black and white image that I love. And I'd love to learn more about creating better black and white images.
I love color, but certain images scream b&w. I just adore, Emma!! Thank you for the opportunity!
Black and white simply devine
I prefer color but it depends on the photo
If forced to choose I'd have to go with color cuz I just couldn't give up the vibrancy! That being said, I love the emotion available with b&w! Thanks for the tips and giveaway possibility Emma :)
Great article, Emma! Hmmm….these days most of my images tend to be color, but I love when I can find one that works really well in BW. And I love looking at BW images of others……particularly BW film (which is where I fell in love with photography in the first place!) :)
Hands down, black and white! I just think they convey so much emotion in them..
It truly depends on the photo for me. I love black and white images because they add such depth to a photo, but lately bright Colorado are really doing it for me. Maybe it is the fact that most of the photos I take are of my son and his gorgeous blue eyes.
I love vibrant colors but I usually covert my pictures to b/w to check if I like the composition and if the subject of the image is conveyed the way I wanted to. Without distraction of color the details (and errors) are so much more obvious. After that I go back to color or leave in bw if I like the bw image better.
Gotta say that I love Emma's photos, I can instantly recognize her style in my feed. Thank you!
I prefer color, but I totally agree that B&W can really show the details in a photo.
Awesome post! Thank you Emma! It always depends, but I tend to prefer black&white.
I tend to prefer color, but can’t take my eyes away from a good b&w!
I never, never used B&W for macro and I am amazed of what I could do. I often use color and I use B&W depending on my mood. Sometimes I just want to do B&W photographys
Beautiful images! I love both color and black and white, but if pressed I tend to gravitate towards B&W…almost every photo displayed in my home is B&W :)
These are so beautiful– monochrome seems so fitting for the aged dandelion.
I love both black and white and color images. It doesn't matter which one it is, just as long as it evokes emotion in me. I do usually tend to go with b&w when I edit images of those whom I love! And, I love Emma's work, simply stunning!
Black and white can hold such emotion if done correctly. But, on that photo, that green was perfect
I prefer color, only because I never seem to get black and white just right…
I love black & white photography. I am new to photography so I am still learning what subjects and photos would like better in black and white or colour. I love the simplicity and details of black and white, but again, as I am new to the art of photography and photoshop, still playing and practising on processing the photos.
I love B&W for the timeless classic feel it give an image.
My new favorite thing is B&W – as much as I love a beautiful photo with lots of color, B&W wins every time :)
I tend to be drawn to color, but sometimes B & W can really draw me in!!!! And Emma's b&w's always draw me in.
I love black and white's and yours are just stunning. <3 Thank you for this post!
Has a winner been announced and I'm just looking in the wrong place? :) Sorry I just really want to win, lol.
Love these in color and in b&w Emma! They are both gorgeous!