About a week ago I was kindly invited by a resident to take some photos at a coop complex in downtown White Plains called the Broadlawn. The pre-war complex is know for its subtle use of white lights in its courtyard during the holiday season. At first I thought this would be 100% color photos. But a couple of the pictures really underwhelmed me in color and I just had a gut instinct that black and white would work better. So I converted this photo and VOILA! It had a much better effect.
People often say that "the camera never lies". But that does not mean that it automatically recreates what our eye sees. It doesn't work that way. The camera lens that has the sophistication of the human eye has not been built. So, we tweak and dodge and burn our photos to try and recreate what our eyes actually saw. In this case, what my eyes saw looked spectacular in the full color in early evening, but in practice, it didn't turn out that way and converting it to black and white actually restored much of the impact the color picture was missing.
But I will say, that for the most part - holiday lights are best done in color.
Original Post: Can Holiday lights look better in black and white?
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