Color, an obstruction in photography?
I shoot monochrome A LOT! More than usual. Sometimes, my camera is set to shoot monochrome and no colors at all.
Moving photography to a hobby stature, I found myself learning the art and experimenting with it, it became more of a passion again.
I found myself taking great pictures with folks around appreciating the art. Looking at works of some of my favorite photographers, I knew the journey was long and I was no where close to excellence.
I aimed at getting five good photos every time I went out to take pictures. If I had five, I was happy. This went well for a while.
Walking down the busy streets of New York City, heading towards Times Square, I found myself taking many good pictures. Within an hour, I had 10–20 pictures which were really good, I wondered how I became so good. Turns out, it was the subject and not the photographer.
Times Square being a place filled with lights, colors, diverse people, streets, buildings, every photo I took was popping and standing out.
Did I take great pictures? Yes. But the 4x better results were not an outcome of me as a better photographer, but a photographer with just a better subject or opportunity.
This got me to challenge myself that night and I decided to walk back the same route, spend another evening in Times Square, and shoot only Black & White pictures. This was a fun test, to pop out the pop from my subject, to solely focus on the subject.
And booooy, how it changed the way I took photos. Here are some of the colorless pictures of Times Square I captured. These are the FIVE.
I have been shooting monochrome images way more since then, and yes, I solely do it for myself. To remove the obstruction, the distraction, and the overflow of colors taking away from the soul of the photograph. Not to take anything away from colored pictures, which I mostly shoot the landscapes in.
Monochrome makes me sleep better, focus more on the subject, helps to improve everyday and make the image I want to look at everyday.
And I am nowhere close to how good I want to be. Someday. A day at a time.
Tell me your journey, your methods, maybe share your pictures. Would love to chat.
