Agreeing colour and black-and-white selections

Black and white has a long tradition in photography, and many clients ask for it. The question is not whether it is possible, but how to ask clearly. A vague request can lead to a duplicated gallery or to a style you did not intend.

This guide belongs to our wider guide to event photo delivery, editing and preservation.

What are you actually asking for?

There are several different requests hidden in "I'd like some black and white". Be specific about which one you mean.

Request	What it means	Effect on delivery
A few selected images	Some portraits or moments converted	Small extra set
A named session	For example, all portraits in black and white	A defined subset
A consistent style	The whole set processed in black and white	One version, no colour
Both versions of everything	Colour and black and white for each image	Gallery roughly doubles

The last option is the one people often assume without meaning to. It affects review time and file size, and it may affect cost. Optional retouching, albums and print costs explains how extra deliverables are usually priced.

How do you describe the mood?

Words like "classic" or "artistic" mean different things to different people. It is more useful to describe what you see. Do you want soft grey tones or strong contrast? Deep blacks or a lighter, airy look? Natural-looking skin or a dramatic finish?

Pictures help even more. Collect two or three examples you like and share them. Our photography style preference brief gives you a simple way to collect and describe them. The photographer can then explain whether the look suits your venue and light.

Which photographs suit black and white?

There is no rule, but some patterns are common. Portraits, candid expressions, hands, and scenes with strong light and shadow often work well. Photographs where colour is part of the meaning often do not.

In Malaysian events, colour often carries real significance. Traditional attire, a decorated pelamin, festival lighting and food are all part of the story. A black-and-white conversion of these may be beautiful, but it removes something your family may want to keep. This is why a limited set is often wiser than a blanket conversion.

Who approves the choices?

The simplest approach is for the photographer to propose a set within the agreed style, and for you to approve or swap images. If several people have approval rights, name one decision-maker. Selecting event photographs when several people have approval rights explains how to do this.

Say too whether the colour version should be kept. For photographs you may later print or publish, a colour original is a useful safety net. Converting from colour later is usually easier than recovering colour from a black-and-white file, so keep the original.

A worked example

For example, imagine a family hosting a thirtieth-anniversary dinner. They like the idea of black-and-white portraits of the couple and their children, but want the dinner scenes, with the decorated hall and traditional outfits, in colour.

They write in the brief: "Portraits of the couple and the family groups in black and white, with the colour version kept. Everything else in colour." The photographer proposes twelve portraits for conversion. The family approves ten and swaps two. The quotation records both the subset and the keeping of colour copies. Nobody has to review 300 pairs of images.

What if you want a change after delivery?

A later request for conversion is treated as an editing request. Whether it is included depends on your quotation. Requesting routine selections and agreed revisions explains how to ask, and agreeing what retouching can and cannot change covers what editing usually involves. For a wider look at what outputs are possible at all, see choosing photography formats and optional event outputs. Check the delivered set with the photo delivery acceptance checklist.

How do you check the result?

When the set arrives, look at the black-and-white images beside their colour originals if you kept them. Ask whether the mood matches what you described, and whether any photograph lost something important in the conversion, such as the colour of a garment. Raise questions early, while the event is fresh and your notes on the look you wanted are still to hand. A short written list of any swaps makes the next step simple.