black and white photos

how do you guys shooting weddings decide which picture you are going to give to the couple as black and white???
whenever i show someone a B+W i am always asked what happened to the colour

Whenever I do a B&W conversion I always include the color version as well to prevent exactly that. I don't have a formula for how I decide which to give a B&W treatment to, just kind of comes to me when I look at them (or if it was shot at a high ISO and has a lot of grain, haha).

StephenAndrew wrote in post #15145804
Whenever I do a B&W conversion I always include the color version as well to prevent exactly that. I don't have a formula for how I decide which to give a B&W treatment to, just kind of comes to me when I look at them (or if it was shot at a high ISO and has a lot of grain, haha).

Yes, always provide both copies.

As for which ones to turn BW, I think you are also right in saying that it's just instinct. Thinking about it more leads me to believe, for me anyway, I tend to BW the more emotional shots or ones where there is some "drama" occurring.

I provide everything in color, plus some I like (prep, well lit shots, reception dancing, plus misc) in my own sepia.

thanks for the answers everyone

I usually know before I take the picture if it will be black and white or not (well, I use Sepia. Rarely do I use straight BW). Back in the day, I used to strap a colour camera and BW camera on me so you HAD to know before you took the shot if it would be BW. And there's no turning back.

Since I switched to Digital in 2005, I've had two clients ask for colour versions of a shot I supplied in BW.

Lately I have been including both expect for formals which the majority is colour. Sometimes 3 to 4 variations using wedding presets. I let the customer decide which images to use/print. No all images but I will pick through as I edit.

picturecrazy wrote in post #15146357
I usually know before I take the picture if it will be black and white or not (well, I use Sepia. Rarely do I use straight BW). Back in the day, I used to strap a colour camera and BW camera on me so you HAD to know before you took the shot if it would be BW. And there's no turning back.

Since I switched to Digital in 2005, I've had two clients ask for colour versions of a shot I supplied in BW.

im with you. i see the shots in BW before i take them. i've yet to have a client ask for a color version of any of our BWs.

I often can see it when I'm hobby shooting but when I'm busy I don't see B&W images. Worry about those later.

Occasionally, i will see the shot in B&W at the time of conception/exposure. Most of time, however, I make the "artistic decision" in post.

I have a place on my wedding form for notes about processing. I ask my clients if they love / hate (or something in between) B+W photos and usually state my preference for using them for certain photos.

For about 25% of shots that end up B+W I know while shooting; for 75% of the time the decision occurs in post.

What determines which are B+W ? The choice is never arbitrary for me, there is always some purpose such as:
1-I can't choose between 2 very similar often sequential good shots; I'll do 1 in B+W and include both
2-the shot is a great shot but because of color issues or noise (a mix of color balances, unfortunate colors in the scene etc.) B+W makes it stronger
3-B+W gives me control over how colors are mapped in the scene, and a given setting brings something out in the photo
4-I want to stress textural and tonal elements
5-There's something about B+W that complements the mood and basically signals the viewer to see the photo in a certain way.

I don't return all color copies of the B+W's I return. I've been asked for color versions for selected photos 1 time in 55 weddings; and this was for photos they wanted to print.

I don't always include the colored image of the exact same image, but usually include one similar that is in color. The main reason being that I like really contrasty black and whites with lots of shadow, so I'll kill a light in order to take a black and white so part of the image is completely shadowed. Which means it won't look that great in color.

I used to supply both, but I really felt like it lessened the impact. I occasionally have someone ask about a color version, and I tell them an image usually speaks to me pretty strongly that it should be color or B&W and that I didn't choose it arbitrarily, and people are usually fine with that.

I supply everything in colour and then pick the ones that I think work well in Black and White and supply those in black and white too.

When I first started I used to supply stuff just in either colour or black and white but clients always wanted a colour version of a shot I had supplied just in black and white and it was a proper PIA to go back and create colour versions which is why everything is colour by default these days.

It really depends when - I turned my picture into black and white because sometimes, a picture tells a story if it is in b&w. Another time that I would turn a picture to b&w is if the lighting is very poor.