I take better photos in black and white

It's a strange thing to say. But I really do think photos look better in black and white. You can add a mood to them in pretty unexpected ways. I find myself saying I take better photos in black and white.

These are all from Sandringham House (the house itself is the last photo), where the Queen spends her Christmases. They are all plant life pictures that would make more sense being in colour. But I like the way they turned out.

This one below would probably work better in colour. But it's a cool looking flower. And as it's got a pure white look about it against the varying greys makes it stand out better than expected.

There is a lot of open space around Sandringham. This is just long grass but there are no people. And it's quite nice unspoiled.

There is this nice bank of trees that line up quite nicely. I have clearly stolen all my ideas here.

In contrast to the single flower that came out white, above, the near black look of these is quite a nice juxtaposition.

And this is what Sandringham looks like...

Hell is other people...

...Apparently. It's a Satre quote that is generally taken out of context. But sod the context. It's as near a truism you'll ever get.

But people can be quite interesting to take photos of. It can be kind of awkward if you get squeemish about it. Which I do. So I try when people aren't looking. It also makes it hard if the person you want to take a photo of isn't keen on the idea. Either way. I haven't really got the skill of subtly taking photos of random people. But there have been occasions I have got a gem or two.

This is Sam. She doesn't like having her photo taken. But this is probably one of my favourite photos. We were messing about on the beach. The water was pretty cold apparently. If there is one thing that bothers me, it's that the horizon isn't straight. But whilst it is very noticeable, I still really like this shot. It's one with a good memory too, so it's a little more unique than a lot of the others.

A day on the beach in Jersey. These two kids were doing what kids do at the beach. I would have preferred to have had colour film at the time for a shot like this. But I think it came out ok. Maybe zooming in a little would have helped.

This girl was walking back and forth past me outside King's Cross Station in London. She had a dog with her as well. But it wouldn't stay in the frame annoyingly. This is actually from my first film in colour, and second role ever. There aren't many shots from this role that I actually like but I do like this.

I know you can't really see it clearly but there is a shoe on a foot sort of behind the bush here. From where I was sitting I had a clear view of it. But I had to move closer to get it clearer. I didn't have a decent zoom lens to do this and so not as good as I would have hoped. But it's from a day out at Sandringham, and the woman was there by herself reading a book. I didn't want to be too intrusive, so I moved backward and just went for this.

These next two (above and below) are pretty lazy shots. I was lying on the grass and was messing around. I was pretty high up, so you can't see what the woman could be pointing at. But it's out to sea. But it's a relaxed scene. I like how I managed to frame it pretty centrally though.

This is just kind of amusing. Four people on a bench. Seemingly looking at a tree.

This old boy was on his day out at Sandringham. I like his hat.