When I first picked up a camera, I was mainly inspired by the great black and white portraits of Yousuf Karsh. I’ve always loved his iconic images of my favorite writers–Hemingway, Steinbeck, Sandburg. There is just something about what are called high-key portraits–portraits with a lot of shadows and a lot of white highlights. I remember a particular portrait of Bruce Springsteen that appeared in Rolling Stone magazine years ago. It’s a great moody image of the Boss in shadow looking up and to the side.
So when I began making people’s portraits and headshots, I was naturally trying to reproduce those images. It was fun to play with the shadows and to create depth and contour with monochromatic tones.
But then I met someone like Emily Mahana, a local engineer who is also a beauty pageant winner. How could I ignore the rich hair and eye color?
Or how could I shoot the beautiful wedding reception of Annie and Nadim in black and white?
Whether the job is an actor’s headshot or a corporate executive’s headshot or a model’s portfolio or even an artistic wedding session, the question of black and white versus color must be answered.
As the Instagram question goes, “Does this shot look better as a color image or black and white?”
