In Black and White

The other day, I took time to meander around the North Loop and snapped a few photos.  I published the original edits Wednesday, but crafted black and white versions of them as well.  There’s something seductive about the absence of color because we can manipulate the shadows of the city in a way that would be too contrast-heavy in color photography.  Plus it gives photography a vintage noir look that never goes out of style.

The black and white edits were finalized with VSCO X, the app’s new edition that brings a few select presets to the iPhone.  My experience with film simulations is limited to RNI Films’ app (I consider VSCO a different beast altogether) and find their presets more nuanced than VSCO’s.  That said, I like the ability to adjust the character of film in VSCO X, and by decreasing the strength of the filter, the image becomes more balanced and I find myself using VSCO more because I like the bold and moody character of their presets that draw attention to the image.  Furthermore, you can shoot in the X presets in RAW mode, which VSCO introduced last December.  Once VSCO adds more emulations to X, it will be a game changer.  Until then, if you have an extra $20 sitting around for frivolous pursuits (there is a fee), it’s worth the price of entry to play around with.

Location: North Loop, Minneapolis