So this weekend I'll be posting some of the best black and white tuts and tips I've seen recently as well as a few amazing black and white photographers and of course links to their sites. I will also post a few of my own black and whites. This should be fun!

I absolutely love Black and White Photography. The depth and way it tells a story just reaches inside of me.
This photo was taken on a black and white film camera and is amazing.

Source: personalcollectibles.blogspot.com via Dena on Pinterest

This photo was most probably taken on a digital camera.

credit for this photo goes to: http://melangephotographyblog.com/page/2/

Source: melangephotographyblog.com via Dena on Pinterest

I love this blog because Mary has shared all kinds of photography projects and each one tells a story. Great job!

On every digital camera you have the option to shoot in black and white or in color. There are also some photographers that tell you when photographing do not use the black and white option but rather convert your colored photos into black and white because the digital age has given us even more freedom to the quality of black and white.
My personal opinion is it's tough to say. I would rather break out my black and white film camera and shoot that way. Unfortunately I do not have a dark room and find it hard to release my artistic vision to a photo lab.

I have used my camera in black and white mode as well as color conversion to black and white. I find shooting nature a preference to use the camera's mode, shooting portraits it is much easier to use color and convert using plugins on paint shop pro or Photoshop much much easier.

Here are a few of my photos.

This photo is converted in PSP *paint shop pro*

This is the original. What difference do you find? Which photo to you shows a depth? Which one shows more of a story? Despite the fact it is the same photo. It is all up to interpretation of the viewer or personal preference. But every portrait should tell a story, capture a memory and pop off the page. Sometimes adding to a photo offers that. Each photographer will tell you however that the ultimate goal is to shoot the shot and have no need for enhancement. As time has gone on with digital photography the technology has improved so much that some camera phones give you just as much quality as a $1500 dollar camera. My advice is check out these websites, join a photography group, participate in the projects they have and master your own style. That is what makes life colorful even in a black and white photo. It is what makes you want to get out there and capture that next photo.Please remember when joining photography groups, almost all photographers I've met understand critiquing. It is meant to help us improve or see a different site to our story, thus in turn either improving your own story or you can tell your story and ask for tips. Either way please enjoy yourself.

Here is the list of great tutorials and how to's:

The first few steps would of course be understanding how to capture amazing black and whites or color photos by understanding exposure: shutter speed, aperture, and ISO
http://photodoto.com/understanding-exposure-shutter-speed-aperture-and-iso/

Source: photodoto.com via Dena on Pinterest

This website gives you a great tutorial on creating a dramatic black and white photos in photoshop.
http://photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/dramatic-bw/