I often use film in my photography and so is not limited to just digital. A big hit with my clients. I have a real love for good old black and white/monochrome photography. Even in digital I have a soft spot for it. Its quite hard to replicate the soft tones of film black and white in digital but Lightroom certainly gives it a good go. I have created quite a few presets of my own, using my own film photos as reference.

Black and white is a favourite in wedding photography and an obvious choice for many a boudoir and portrait shoot. The soft tones, the hard contrast and the strong shadows can be manipulated to present a certain sense of drama or emotion. A bride excited for her big day. A fashion model looking cool and collected. An intimate portrait of a loved one.

Sometimes I like to add a shot of dark blue or sepia into the image to create a slightly different tonal effect. A quick look on social media, I can see people are loving the filters offered by such applications like Instagram. The multitude of colours and effects…its easy to overlook good old black and white. We shouldnt. Some of the most beautiful images can be made more striking and meaningful in monochrome. By simply reducing the amount of ‘noise’ in an image, the message can just leap out. Like Neil, my cover image superstar. A man who came to the Community Christmas Dinner I blogged about. He is a former photographer and wanted his image taken. In mono I can see his life etched on his face. The twinkle in his eye.