Black and White Wedding Photography: Timeless or Trendy?

I had a phone call with a wedding client recently that made me want to write this article. I think it’s a really important concept to consider for several reasons. We were talking for a while about her wedding photography expectations and the types of photography she likes and wants to see in her album. She mentioned at some point that she is not a fan of black and white filters because they make her think of a funeral or vintage photos. I personally love black and white filters; however, I am always very selective about which filter I will use on which photos. So, are black and white photos timeless or trendy?

I want to start by answering this question by explaining my background on the subject. Picture this: I walk into my first day at Purdue University with my shiny new Nikon, only for the teacher to tell me to put it away and drop another $500 on everything I would need to photograph, develop, and print black and white film. That was how my college career started, and I honestly couldn’t be more grateful. Being a photographer who knows how to develop film in this day and age is rare. It taught me the bare bones basics of photography, and I know I am a better photographer for it.

Ansel Adams is a pretty widely known landscape photographer in the mid 20th century. All of his photography is in black and white because that’s all there was to shoot with back then. We studied him quite a bit that first year. Black and white photography is all about finding the purest black and purest white and then balancing everything in between. It was a lot harder than it sounds, but it’s honestly why I am a true-to-color photographer. I have a hard time editing my photos out of balance. For me, black and white photos are timeless. They always will be. They were in the beginning, and they will be in the end - just for clarification: if you dont want B&W in your wedding album there is NOTHING wrong with that.

I wanted to provide some examples. Below is a photo from Frisco, CO, in Black and white and then in color. And then a photo from Forks, WA, in black and white, and then in color. Let me know on my Instagram post what you like best!

Talk soon,

Kate