I find this a very entertaining notion, because it is the original photographic medium dating back well over 100 years.  But here we are, more than a century into this artform, and we’re right back to day one.

What is it about black and whites that I find so captivating?  For starters, it forces you to look at the composition directly.  You can’t be fooled into thinking something is a good picture by a bunch of pretty colors.  I like to use foliage photography as an over-simplified example.

If I see a photo of the stunning reds and yellows and oranges of the stereotypical autumn scene, it is then easy to say “Wow, what a beautiful picture,” without any regard to the actual quality of the photograph.

BUT, if you take the same photograph, and desaturate it, you still get some variation to the color (albeit shades of grays), but you also notice the beautiful lines of the tree trunks, the way the sunlight behind the trees lights up the edges of every individual leaf, etc.  To the contrary, you also notice if those things AREN’T there, so as an artist, you’re almost forced to return to the basics of composition.

Don’t get me wrong, I just love photography in general, and some shots need to be in color.  I’ll be the first to admit that I take more than my share of color shots, and if I see nice color photographs, I’ll say so.  But there’s just something magical about black and whites.

Which do you prefer?  Why?

I took this shot in our back yard when my daughter was just a few months old.  There was just something about the way the light was falling on her pudgy little cheeks that struck me as beautiful.

The standard version of this photograph, as shot, was great, and I actually kept it that way for quite some time.  (Years, actually.)  Then one day I realized how perfect it would be for the Orton Effect.

In a nutshell, the Orton Effect is a photography technique in which you use three of the same images, and through changes in exposure levels and focus, the photo is turned into a softened, smoothened, surreal version of the original.

This is the tutorial I recommend most to replicate the Orton Effect with Photoshop.  I think it is very easy to overuse this effect, or to use it on the wrong shot, but sometimes it’s just right.

Know of another technique?  Share it below or drop me a line!