Black and white or Colour?

Sometimes I consider the idea of only shooting in black and white, but then I wonder if I would be adversely limiting myself if I removed the option of colour.

I tend to see the world in black and white (in more ways than one) and in photography terms I do think that shooting in black and white focuses the mind on composition. It's not only the photographer but also those viewing photos that gets distracted by colour. The photographer ends up including additional subjects just because they are bright and or colourful in the hope that they might help the photo in some way, and the viewer unwittingly ends up looking at the brightest most colourful thing in the photo first. At this point both photographer and viewer are looking at something that potentially wasn't meant to be the main focus in the photo (unless of course the bright colourful thing was the main subject of the photo!).

If when raising the camera we forget why we are taking the photo in the first place it is likely that we will end up including information/objects that are not necessary to document our vision.

This is the reason why I love black and white photography. I can't rely on vivid colours making the composition better but I can control each channel of colour in post production and focus the attention of the viewer when I want it. Don't get me wrong I love photos in colour, but in the same way I love prime lenses for forcing me to think about composition, I love the challenge of black and white photography to stop me snapping without thinking.

Having said all that I don't think I could do a sunset or food photography justice in black and white. For the most part though I prefer black and white photography.