We thought we would post some of our favourite black and white wedding images from the last twelve months in a special post.
Photographers have varying approaches to using black and white in their coverage of a couple’s big day. For some it is a large part of their signature style and they shoot with monochrome in mind. In fact there are quite a few who present one hundred percent black and white imagery only.
Our attitude is to do a mixture of colour and black and white. Everything is originally captured in colour, and then converted with our own recipe to some of the shots featured here and on our Wedding Galleries
We have found over many hundreds of wedding days in and around London, that black and white works particularly well for bride and grooms preparation shots. It’s often the case that where a couple may be getting ready are busy cluttered places, with lots of paraphernalia like hairspray, makeup, clothes and accessories strewn all over the place. Good use of black and white, excellent lenses and technique really help isolate any particular subject and give things some atmosphere.
Another excellent time to use monochrome is during the ceremony, where the technique can concentrate the viewers attention to the emotion being displayed by the loving couple rather than their surroundings.
We will always give a couple the colour version of their image too. A particular favourite was this shot taken of Christopher as his emotion broke through seeing his bride to be walk down the aisle with her father, and a solitary tear rolls down his cheek.
Black and white as mentioned is good for deliberately concentrating a viewers attention on a particular area, not least because there are no colour elements to distract. It is also a photographic technique that helps emphasise shapes and patterns present in a wedding image.
Stand out images whether in colour or black and white take technique and an attitude of “making not just taking” photos. For example the featured image on the post is from a small intimate wedding at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London’s Knightsbridge seen in this post: London Mandarin Oriental Wedding Photography
For this shot I asked the couple to sit on the stairs and just chat to each other. I knew what I wanted to achieve was a natural looking interaction with a stylish look. Pretty quickly the couple started smiling at each other and canoodling, I held a spotlight up with one hand and shone it on them while with the other I took the shot. I knew from experience this would look good in black and white, and sure enough the couple were delighted.
Other images featured here so the inside of Tower Bridge, various hotels, Islington Town Hall and Leez Priory among others.
By David Green