Color or Black and White: Which Do You Prefer?

by | Dec 9, 2022

Today’s Post by Joe Farace

“A picture is a secret about a secret, the more it tells you the less you know.” ― Diane Arbus

In a recent Black Friday post about black and white photography, I showed a vertical black and white portrait that I made in direct monochrome capture mode of the wonderful Tia Stoneman.You can see it at right if you missed that post.

In the post I mentioned that during the shoot, I also shot some horizontal images of Tia but in color. If you prefer the terms portrait and landscape instead of vertical and horizontal forgive me, but I prefer the more literal descriptions instead of the more computer-related ones.

In the original post I asked readers if they wanted to see the color version and a few of you said “yes.” So it got me to thinking when comparing newer and identical versions of the same or similar images like these do most people prefer color over black and white or vice-versa?

As Rod Sterling one said, “presented for your approval” are two versions of a similar image of the one and only Tia Stoneman that were made during the same session. One is vertical and in black and white; the other is in color and was shot horizontally. If you have any opinion on which one you like best, click your choice in the below poll.

 

 

How I Made this Portrait: The subject is my former muse Tia Stoneman who is rocking a “biker chick” vibe and unbeknownst to me was several month’s pregnant when we did this shoot together. She was photographed outdoors during a group model shoot in Northern Colorado. (I really miss those days…) I asked Tia to pose near this western-style background before arriving at this shot after making 28 different variations of this pose that were shot as a horizontal image to show off the background.

Then I shot nineteen different variations of the vertical pose (above) that was captured in direct monochrome mode and like the horizontal version was refined using my “shooting through the pose” technique. Both images were captured using a Canon EOS 5D Mark I and EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens (at 109mm.) An EX550 speedlight was used for fill. Exposure was 1/160 sec at f/6.3 and ISO 400 with a minus two-thirds stop exposure compensation.

 


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Right now I’m looking for models who are interested in posing for photographs for this blog as I explore the available light possibilities in my home. If you or a friend are interested, you can see details on the Models page or just click Contact to make an appointment for a shoot.