Exercise: Black and white

This exercise looks at shooting an image which you think would look better in black and white than colour.

I chose to shoot a tube station for this image.  I felt that from a geometric perspective this composition has lines, shape, volume and texture - all the elements that make a good black and white image.  I also felt that the colour in this shot was distracting especially the advertisements and the lighting.

I particularly like the way in which the viewer is drawn into the image and down the platform.

Original colour shot

Black and white conversion

Thinking and shooting a black and white image made me look for patterns and lines in my composition.  I also wanted something that had colour that didn't enhance it.
With regard to framing the shot I wanted the image to be transparent and I felt that this black and white version is more transparent and draws the reader in more.

The only issue I had with exposure here was increasing the ISO.  I am not a great lover of using high ISO especially in colour images but I felt that any noise introduced by a higher ISO would enhance the image and give it a more grainy and traditional effect.