It’s always refreshing to hear everyone’s different take on why prefer BnW. Enjoyed hearing yours. And some of it I’ll be taking to heart, or is it that I may have already felt that way, but didn’t have a way to express it? Thank you for helping me find the words to express my love of the format. Cheers.
Really glad to be pointed in the direction of this 'stack via Lucy Lumen's latest post. I'm a hobbyist photographer who also spent a brief stint living in Folkestone, so it's really nice to see the area captured so beautifully through your work- takes me right back! Keep up the great work Luke.
Luke, I Really enjoyed this. Your breakdown of why B&W works so well especially for coastal and stormy scenes. The way you describe B&W stripping away distractions and focusing on light and texture is spot on and thats how I generally use it. Also, the red filter image is stunning such dramatic contrast! Well done
Thanks for the comment John. Really hope you can find space in the future. I'm lucky we have a small space here, it has to be an office too where I work so it's dual purpose but it works well.
Great post. I agree with a lot of it. I live in a mostly cloudy place and bnw is so much better. I shoot’s colour as well but I prefer bnw because it looks more like film to me, it’s easier and more consistent to get a vintage look that I like with bnw rather than colour.
Thanks Liam! B&W definitely suits cloudy and unreliable weather which we do get a lot of in the UK, so that part of it is definitely a big factor for me using it.
Great write-up, I can definitely see the appeal of B&W for dramatic or minimalist coastal shots.
I’ve gone the other way with my photography, both film and digital. I developed a fascination for black and white at some point of my photographic journey, but lately I’ve been strongly gravitating towards color. Occasionally, I convert color images to black and white, especially if the colors are beyond my control or overwhelm the scene—for example, in urban settings.
Cheers Mike, thanks for the comments, glad you enjoyed the read. Interesting to hear you've gone the other way, I think we all eventually find where we want to be focusing our photography, though for me it did take many years of using both, but definitely moving to the coast and the environment here was a big factor.
A great read, Luke. Much the same as me with regard to favouring B&W. Especially as I’ve taken to developing at home. Alongside B&W being less distracting, there’s also an element of the photograph acting more truthfully.
I’ve some Gold 120 that’s begging to be shot, but I’m waiting for that light to finally arrive in order to do it justice.
Really glad you enjoyed reading that one! How you getting on with developing at home? It's so much fun! Oh yes good plan..save the Kodak Gold for a bright summers day.
Yeah, I’ve been doing it for a year now and haven’t looked back. I really enjoy taking the film out of the spool and seeing it hanging up. It’s pretty costly posting off B&W too. Am contemplating a TCS-1000 in order to give colour a go. Would be nice to have the option.
Ah that's ace, yeah it's amazing when you pull the negatives off the reel and seeing the little images. It's worth trying colour at home.. and definitely would be good with a heater like the TCS1000... It's a pain trying to do it in hot water from the tap...though it did still work okay for me, I just didn't really enjoy the extra faff.
That’s what happened to me, as I mentioned in the post, having to keep checking the thermometer so closely and adding more hot water, took the enjoyment out of it. Plus I ended up stopping with the colour film, but I’m really glad that I did do it at home myself and think I developed maybe 10ish rolls of colour.
I enjoyed your article. I used to develop and print my own black and whites, but that's many decades ago now. I have just recently come to realise how many people are still shooting film. I didn't even know you could still buy film. Now I'm getting an itch about having another go at it. I've still got my film SLR under a layer of dust somewhere...
Hey Luke, reading this I can feel your passion. I really like your photos and I totally understand why people fully go black and white on film. I have a few rolls of colourfilm remaking in the cooler but once they’re gone I’m (probably) out.
I'm not really sure to be honest, I don't know much about digital black and white. I guess editing them after to b&w would give you more control over things like contrast.
It’s always refreshing to hear everyone’s different take on why prefer BnW. Enjoyed hearing yours. And some of it I’ll be taking to heart, or is it that I may have already felt that way, but didn’t have a way to express it? Thank you for helping me find the words to express my love of the format. Cheers.
Really glad to be pointed in the direction of this 'stack via Lucy Lumen's latest post. I'm a hobbyist photographer who also spent a brief stint living in Folkestone, so it's really nice to see the area captured so beautifully through your work- takes me right back! Keep up the great work Luke.
Thank you so much for the very kind words! 🖤🤍🩶
Luke, I Really enjoyed this. Your breakdown of why B&W works so well especially for coastal and stormy scenes. The way you describe B&W stripping away distractions and focusing on light and texture is spot on and thats how I generally use it. Also, the red filter image is stunning such dramatic contrast! Well done
Thank you so much! 🖤
I miss my darkroom so much! Moved house recently and new place is not suitable for that... :( I can only hope this will change in the near future.
Beautiful photos and prints! :)
Thanks for the comment John. Really hope you can find space in the future. I'm lucky we have a small space here, it has to be an office too where I work so it's dual purpose but it works well.
Great post. I agree with a lot of it. I live in a mostly cloudy place and bnw is so much better. I shoot’s colour as well but I prefer bnw because it looks more like film to me, it’s easier and more consistent to get a vintage look that I like with bnw rather than colour.
Thanks Liam! B&W definitely suits cloudy and unreliable weather which we do get a lot of in the UK, so that part of it is definitely a big factor for me using it.
Great write-up, I can definitely see the appeal of B&W for dramatic or minimalist coastal shots.
I’ve gone the other way with my photography, both film and digital. I developed a fascination for black and white at some point of my photographic journey, but lately I’ve been strongly gravitating towards color. Occasionally, I convert color images to black and white, especially if the colors are beyond my control or overwhelm the scene—for example, in urban settings.
Cheers Mike, thanks for the comments, glad you enjoyed the read. Interesting to hear you've gone the other way, I think we all eventually find where we want to be focusing our photography, though for me it did take many years of using both, but definitely moving to the coast and the environment here was a big factor.
A great read, Luke. Much the same as me with regard to favouring B&W. Especially as I’ve taken to developing at home. Alongside B&W being less distracting, there’s also an element of the photograph acting more truthfully.
I’ve some Gold 120 that’s begging to be shot, but I’m waiting for that light to finally arrive in order to do it justice.
Really glad you enjoyed reading that one! How you getting on with developing at home? It's so much fun! Oh yes good plan..save the Kodak Gold for a bright summers day.
Yeah, I’ve been doing it for a year now and haven’t looked back. I really enjoy taking the film out of the spool and seeing it hanging up. It’s pretty costly posting off B&W too. Am contemplating a TCS-1000 in order to give colour a go. Would be nice to have the option.
Ah that's ace, yeah it's amazing when you pull the negatives off the reel and seeing the little images. It's worth trying colour at home.. and definitely would be good with a heater like the TCS1000... It's a pain trying to do it in hot water from the tap...though it did still work okay for me, I just didn't really enjoy the extra faff.
Yeah, I think I’d have to use a heater to avoid getting frustrated haha.
I used the Tetenal C41 kit which worked well for me but they don’t make it anymore, but there’s plenty of other options now
Yeah, I saw you were tackling the sink and hot water approach. I’ve seen Cinestill do a step kit which is pretty well rated.
That’s what happened to me, as I mentioned in the post, having to keep checking the thermometer so closely and adding more hot water, took the enjoyment out of it. Plus I ended up stopping with the colour film, but I’m really glad that I did do it at home myself and think I developed maybe 10ish rolls of colour.
I enjoyed your article. I used to develop and print my own black and whites, but that's many decades ago now. I have just recently come to realise how many people are still shooting film. I didn't even know you could still buy film. Now I'm getting an itch about having another go at it. I've still got my film SLR under a layer of dust somewhere...
Black and whites are my ultimate favorites, your job is simply amazing! I love it so much! Just know you are outstanding.
Hey Luke, reading this I can feel your passion. I really like your photos and I totally understand why people fully go black and white on film. I have a few rolls of colourfilm remaking in the cooler but once they’re gone I’m (probably) out.
It was a nice read, thanks for sharing.
Cheers Hanno
Hand, thanks so much for the kind comments! It's worked well for me just focusing on B&W and I haven't looked back.
I'm not really sure to be honest, I don't know much about digital black and white. I guess editing them after to b&w would give you more control over things like contrast.