Exercise: Black-and-white.

Outline: Choose a subject, lighting condition or picture situation you think may look better in black and white. Process the image for black and white and discuss what effect shooting in black and white had on your shooting decisions.

While undertaking 'The Art Of Photography', I had to undertake an exercise exactly like this one. The assignment was to explore shape, form, texture and colour and I felt the best way to explore texture and form was to shoot in black and white, to focus on these aspects of the subject instead of the colour. 

While shooting this image, it was important to forget the colour aspect. This vase is extremely colourful and would be the main focus point of any images taken of it. I wanted to highlight the other aspects of the vase, including the fabulous shattered glass texture of it. I also wanted to give the vase as much depth as possible to show the form really well.

 I needed to think hard about the camera angle to include all detailing of the vase for example, the ball on the lid, the lip of the lid and the vase itself. I found above and to the side slightly worked best. I only used half of the vase in the frame because I found that trying to photograph the whole vase just made the subject flatter.

The lighting was an important factor too. I needed some lighting above the subject to show some reflection in the uneven surface of the vase to make more definition of the texture.

Conclusion:
I know I have cheated a bit here, using a previous image but I remembered this exercise well and how difficult it was to get the right composition to show these details of the vase. And as I read this exercise, I remembered this image being a prime candidate to show how an image looks better in black and white than in colour.