“Do you do black and white wedding photography? How many of them can we get?”

I’m always a little surprised when couples ask me this question, not because it’s a question I can’t answer, its because somewhere a long the line they’ve spoken or seen other photographers who specifically limit the amount of black and white wedding photography a couple can have.

I wish all my couples would ask me this question. It gives me a chance to flex my photography brain and show couples I really know what I’m talking about. There’s nothing like body slamming a competitors business practice and then showing how much your way makes more sense! YAR!! (I’m a child of the eighties, Hulk Hogan rules!)

One recent example of this was a couple who recently booked their wedding with me. The bride had recently told me that she had seen 4 other photographers and they ALL told her she could only have a limited amount of black and white wedding photography. One photographer said that he would only give 30 images, one even went as far to say he’d only shoot in black and white at a specific part of the day.

While the top image is pretty good, when converted to black and white its given the timeless feel.

Are these photographers insane?! When I’m shooting I’m not thinking “oh this is a black and white moment I better switch the camera settings” I generally have no idea until after my shoot which pictures should be in black and white and ones that should be in colour. Lets just assume most photographers are shooting digital. I can totally understand if there are a few dinosaurs out there still shooting film, which limits them to either choosing colour film or black and white. As a digital wedding photographer, I’m no longer handicapped by which roll of film I choose. All images originally shot in colour can be converted to monochrome quite easily on the computer.

Now I’m not advocating that couples should get a finished product of 200 colour and 200 black and white wedding photography images. In this case less is definitely better. Giving too many images dilutes a product, and doesn’t make a wedding package very special or unique. What I do tell couples is that out of a finished product, I’ll choose the images that best suit conversion into black and white. Some images work best in colour some images look completely timeless when converted. So if their wedding is especially colourful I might not convert that many, I give an estimate because I honestly won’t know how many black and white photos they will get until after I finish their wedding.

It might seem like there are many shades of grey in wedding photography, however, its quite black and white when some photographers are just being plain lazy. Be weary of the shooters that want to save time by only giving you a predetermined number of B&W images. A good photographer should be able to properly edit your wedding and know which images should be in colour or not. However, if there’s a specific image you think needs to be converted just tell him. The person you hire will also be able to correctly identify most of your images, but photography is still subjective and based on style and taste.

About the Author: Randolph Quan is a UK based wedding photojournalist. You can follow Randolph on Twitter or check out his wedding photography here.