If you look at our website, Facebook page or anywhere you see information about our studio, you will notice the vast majority of the work we show is black and white...

It most definitely was NOT an overnight or a quick decision for us to take this direction!  

Quite the opposite; we agonized over it for quite some time!

The portrait above is part of a collection of images on display in our studio which form a Black and White Study.  But lets talk about the elements of the image and why it works so well in black and white.

First of course is the pure simplicity!  The entire image is about little Le's expression.  There are no stylistic elements, colors or flourishes which pull the eye away from that expression at all.  As part of a study collection, thats extremely important because a study collection must tell a story of the personality of the subject.

The benefits of black and white for the subject

How many times have you struggled to get everyone together for a family portrait?  From the scheduling, to the clothing to the location, it can be really hard.  Our black and white sessions address all of these issues:

• They are in-studio, never a weather issue.
• They are often fairly close cropped so full-length body sensitivity is vastly minimized
• Clothing is super easy - dark solid colors.  Matching is not an issue.
• Sessions are fast!  Because they are relational and informal most sessions take less than an hour.

The most important reasons are aesthetic and artistic

It's nice to have a session that is easy on the subjects in the image, but that can never be the primary reason for any photographic style.

The primary reason we do it - Emotion and impact!

Our entire focus when we create these portraits is on the expression and the emotion of the story they portray.

We absolutely LOVE doing these kinds of portraits!

Hayward