The Perfect Shot

While walking along a back road you glance to the right and notice, through a barrier of trees, a beach; obviously beaten by the whitecaps of the blue green ocean. Upon the horizon the sun, burning blood red, paints the sky a multitude of colors. While taking in this gorgeous sight you notice a woman walking along the beach silhouetted in a melancholy mood. You see your chance to obtain the perfect frame and then move to a more strategic position. You locate an area with the best possible angle. You then grasp your weapon of choice and, while frantically fingering the many focusing devices, you now have the woman in your sights. You aim carefully and pull the trigger. You realize that you have committed the perfect crime; capturing the perfect image, containing a similar mood and feeling, on a frame of film. You then realize that you're not sure if you used black and white or color film. To most individuals the type of film is unimportant, but to photographers the type of film used could mean the difference between an OK picture and a great photograph. Photography should be more than appealing to the eye. It should also hold a mood or feeling. In the case mentioned above, color film would have been the best choice. The many majestic colors in the scene set the romantic feeling and the silhouette of the woman alone enhances her melancholy mood. Another example of feelings and mood captured on color film might be a romantic Fall afternoon, because of the multicolor leaves that Fall brings. To put it simply, if a feeling or mood is mainly in the color of the scene then color film is your best choice. Black and white film is similar to color in the aspect that it can also capture a mood or feeling. The obvious difference is that color is absent so holding a mood or feeling expressed is prominently on an individual item or expression within the content of the photograph. If you were to use black and white film in the story above, the mood and feeling would be the same except that the item that you would notice first would be the woman and not the sunset. The dominate colors of the sunset would overpower the woman in the silhouette, loosing her completely. In closing, I hope that this has helped you understand the difference between color and black and white film, other than the obvious. Everyone is an amateur photographer inside. Just remember that "practice makes perfect", so get trigger happy and shoot a friend today.

An origianl written by Kim Measells