A New Idea: A Black and White Wedding Photography Option For Couples

Weddings Shot Entirely in Black and White to Save Money and Get Amazing Pictures

The title says this is a new idea of mine. Actually it's an idea ever since I started working at first as a part-time wedding photographer while still working as a photojournalist at the Bend Bulletin and now as a full-time wedding photographer. I've just never been brave enough to offer a black and white only wedding photography option as a package. Perhaps because nobody else offers one I have the feeling nobody will want their wedding entirely in classic no color black and white.

When studying photojournalism at San Francisco State University in the mid-90's we shot almost entirely with black and white film. Then we would process it by hand. Then we would take that film into the dark room and make prints. I found another black and white print lab in San Francisco and would always go there in the off hours to do more printing. It was a long, slow process but I eventually got halfway good at the job.

At first, when starting my second career as a photojournalist I really didn't like black and white. We see in color and most of my favorite National Geographic photographers all shot in color. Some of them, like Jodi Cobb and David Alan Harvey, were masters of color. I really loved Jodi Cobb's work with the Japanese Geisha and had her sign my copy at the Eddie Adams workshop many years ago. Unfortunately David Alan Harvey destroyed himself with the #MeToo moment, but I still love his work from Cuba. Plus I really appreciate how he shot pretty much every picture with a Leica camera and one 35mm lens. This idea of one camera, one lens helped me fall in love with the 35mm lens as a do-all travel lens.

However, as I worked in the dark room 15 hours a week I began to understand the draw of plain black and white. You learn to see the composition and focus on light and emotion. Using the simple tools of dodging and burning a photographer can emphasize people or objects in the frame and make a picture pop out and evoke an emotional response in the viewer. I really, truly fell in love with the work of Sebastião Salgado through his opus "Workers" That book, to me, is like Bach or Mozart to music lovers or Matisse and Van Gough to art lovers.

Taking the lead from David Alan Harvey, Salgado, and my favorite fictional character Jack Reacher, my dream would be to travel the world with one good camera and one good lens and one small suitcase just doing black and white pictures. Like when Leica comes out with a Q3 with only a black and white sensor. That would be AWESOME!

However with wife and kid I'm stuck here in Central Oregon working mostly as a wedding photographer. But that shouldn't stop me from realizing at least part of the dream and shooting weddings with one camera (a Fuji) and a few prime lenses entirely in black and white. I would of course, without question, include the Profoto light as part of the package.

So here's a portfolio from a personal favorite wedding shot a few years ago at River Run Lodge behind Eagle Crest Resort. Be sure type in River Run Lodge because for some reason it's totally separate from Eagle Crest Resort on the websites even though it's right there on the Eagle Crest Resort property. Anyway, it's way in the back by the river.

It was a wedding when shooting it at first I had in the back of my mind it could be a rare portfolio wedding. Then when we were eating someone said "There's a rainbow out back!" My assistant, Hannah Mavis, and I jumped up, grabbed Corey and Morgan and quickly went out back for this picture. By some miracle of idiot savant foresight I had grabbed my Nikon 20mm f2.8 lens before the wedding. It was one of the only times I've ever used a super wide angle lens at a wedding, but it worked absolutely perfectly for the rainbow shot. Hannah was down low in front of them popping a flash back at them while I did this picture from behind. It lasted only moments and then was gone. But this picture made this wedding into a very rare portfolio wedding for me and remains one of my favorites to this day.

So here's what's possible with black and white only for a wedding.