Phoenix Zoo In Black and White

I would be lying if I said these photos haven't been floating around my computer for some time now. Back in December my wife and I made a trip to the Phoenix Zoo. It had been a while since our last visit and I was curious to see if things had changed much. Needless to say, they've added or changed a lot and it looks like they have a lot planned for the future.

Before our trip I was toying around with settings on my camera and decided that I haven't really done much black and white. As a result I shot straight to b&w on much of our trip. As I was editing later, I pushed myself to dive more into to monochrome realm.

I used to actually dislike monochrome images, but over the last several years I've found myself gravitating to it more. I love it because I personally feel that color can distract from some elements such as texture and pattern (obviously not color patterns). More importantly, there is a mood and even a closeness to subjects that monochrome images exude that often is not captured in color.

To me the biggest risk I took with this set was taking a macaw, known for its beautiful colors and converting it took monochrome. Even as I was working on it I was thinking to myself, "this is stupid." But, I feel that in this case, it paid off. With the focus of color taken out, the focus becomes the shape and detail of each feather.

For me this was a fun shoot and editing experience. I'd definitely recommend to take a photo in color, then try it out in black and white (most new cameras have this setting). You may really enjoy the results.