Nice pictures.
Yes I prefer B&W over colour.

I like both!

Some pictures just look better in B&W. Some look great in either or...
There are times when I have taken a picture that isn't "technically" correct, so converting to B&W helps hide the scientific error I made.

This is a great picture in B&W

This one needs the color to show off it beauty

Kids and pretty dishwater blondes seem to be made for Black and White.

Here's a couple I thought had texture that looked better in B&W

My goodness, great photos, both of you!
This opens up a whole new world of photography to play with.
Reminds me of a shade garden with various colors of green, green, green, green, and green. You notice the texture more.
Can't wait to try some B & W myself!

Julie

So...I'm a dishwater blonde, now, eh? LOL! (kidding!)

I love sepia, too..........

Lellie, love your GS 'growl' look!...Zitro is that your newborn? Whoever it is so cool in b&w...RC, beautiful floral shots...depending whatever pic is I think sepia brings out some details better than b&w...but either one seems better than color-pending pic comp, altho color is great, too!

"So...I'm a dishwater blonde, now, eh? LOL! (kidding!)"

Hey, it takes a little imagination when you're working with black and white.

When I was little I can still remember how amazed I was the first time I saw "Lucy" in color after watching her for years on our B&W tv and discovering she had bright red hair. Astounded. You a red with blonde highlights?

Nope...no red...LOL

Here's one I took today. Not too sure its really cut out for black and white, but kind of interesting.

Juanita - it is my nephew.

Great pictures. I like the tulips with the rounded fence in the background. Really nice comp.
The black and white lets you make the tulips your favorite color.

Newbie question here....

Do you take the photo in black and white, or take it in color, then manipulate it to b/w on the computer?

Am I "cheating" if I fiddle with pictures on my computer, or is it all part of the "art"?

Thanks Jeaninwa.

To answer your question, all the B&W pics I have posted where changed to B&W on the computer.

Lastly, about "cheating" to edit photos on a computer, I asked the same question here once upon a time. The way I have come to see it is that 1) its hard to cheat where you are just putting up stuff for folks to enjoy unless you misrepresent what and how you did something, 2) unless you are entering a contest or need pics in a certain form for technical reasons, adjusting colors, texture and sharpness, etc to reflect what your eye saw is really just compensating for the camera's weaknesses as well as any oversights or lack of skill by the photographer.

I admire and applaud those photographers skilled enough to get it like it was without editing and think they should be able to take a bow by noting that there has been no editing. But, for most of the rest of us, its like churning out documents in an office. If the idea is to have a nice looking report, do you really need to do it on a typewriter where every key stroke counts, or is it ok to do it on a computer where the vision of the person running the computer program can come through and is what counts?

I like to think its the vision that can be captured and gotten into the form intended that counts more than how. My sister is a pro who has a 5000 dollar dig SLR. In most situations she just needs to set it right and click. Any reason if I can get my camera's pic to look about as good with a little editing, its "cheating"?

Ultimately, I think technology will answer that question along the lines I suggest above. Cameras are going to get smart enough on their own so that no one will need to know the technicalities of how to take pictures like "real" photographers HAD to once upon a time.

Thanks! Good answer too.

That kind of explains the problem I had at my camera class the other night. I have a Panasonic point and shoot, and the class was mostly about manually adjusting the exposure etc. My camera is so automatic, and has so many preset settings, that there is practically no manual adjusting to be done. In a way, that's good because even schmucks like me can take a fairly decent picture, but it sure doesn't allow you to learn how to use a camera.

The way I see it, the end result is what I'm looking for. If I can take a picture with good composition, and tweak the lighting and color a little with the computer, it's still me making the photograph what it is. I still have the decision on how much contrast, how much light, how much color, where to crop etc.

Jeaninwa,

I am not against editing, I try not to though, but time to time I have to. If I am getting paid, then I am more inclined to do some post processing. I take so many pictures that editing each one would take up a lot of my time, time away from my family. I have pics that could use a tweak here or there, but I try my best to get it right when I hit the shutter release.

It you picture, do what you will with it. Just because it' mostly digital doesn't mean you are cheating. I remember back in the film days, fudging with the pictures to get certain effects. Whats the difference now? I was manipulating the picture then to get what I envisioned.

I used to do B&W mostly in the camera, most editing programs made picture look gray, not B&W. There are better programs now that handle B&W conversions better. I use Adobe Lightroom.

ZJoe

And, folks that know how to run a camera will be able to get photos that us folks who depend on the camera won't be able to get under challenging or unusual circumstances.

ONE of these days cameras will probably get there, but right now knowing how is an envialbe set of skills and knowledge.

Good luck in your class.