With a black and white photo, a b&w photo of bnw photo, the essence of a story or message can sometimes be expressed even more than with a color photo. This is, of course, no always the case and b&w photography needs specific techniques to deliver that spot on result.
The competitive advantage of black and white photos really flourishes when target audience experiences enough time and space to allow itself to engage with the photo. Within this setting a b&w photo can strike and capture your target audience in more profound and longer lasting way. The black and white can bring a serene and peaceful atmosphere that can make your audience more receptive for your story or message.
Black and white photos can have an artistic and timeless character. The way in which the essence can be accentuated is unique for b&w photography. More often than with color photos they will keep capturing your attention and draw you into their story. Some photos even have the effect of being seen for the first time each time you lay your eyes on them. This is a very special experience that bnw photos have as an results of their purity.
The specific characteristics of black and white photography offer unique possibilities to reveal otherwise hidden layers of portrait photos. It offers the opportunity to focus the audience’s attention more on the subtle matters such as an emotion or expression of the person. It can make someone appear more powerful or vulnerable due to the absence of ‘distracting colors’. And this applies, of course, to practically all characteristics and expressions. The photos can also raises more profound questions by the audience such as "what is she thinking?", “what's happening?” or “where is this leading to?”.
Black and white photos are highly appreciated wedding photos. There is a lot going on on a wedding day. A bnw photo can perfectly isolate a single experience or moment and can therefore be incredibly powerful. Colors can easily clutter a subtle complexity of feelings and emotions. The magical purity of a bnw photo can make all the difference.
It needs to be said that b&w photos are seldom used for commercial purposes. There have been some commercial campaigns by for instance fashion brands which made use of black and white photos. The fact that we see so little use of bnw photos for commercial campaigns learns us that the result of this use within this context is not as effective compared to the use of color photos. When a photo needs to compete in a context with a high information density it is hard for a bnw photo to really stand out at the first glance compared to color photos.
Basically, a low key photo is an overall dark photo with some parts highlighted. They are also called film noir photos. They are high contrast photos. The dark parts can be black, other dark tones or shadows. low key photography is often combined with B&W photography. But al low key photo can perfectly by a color photo.
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My photo studio is located in The Hague: François Valentijnstraat 346, 2595 WJ The Hague, The Netherlands. Parking in front of the building and easy to reach by car from the A12 and A4 or with public transport.