Aside from some well-corrected nearsightedness, my vision is good. Why is it, then, that I’m almost unable to “see” photographically in colour? Though I enjoy taking colour photos, and it’s a simple process to convert a colour image into tonally rich B&W in Photoshop, I often find myself up against something of an internal mental block when I know I’m taking colour originals (digital or film). When I try to “think in colour”, my compositions become weaker and I avoid taking photographic risks.
I really enjoy colour photography, so the only possible reason I can see for my personal photographic colourblindness is simple habit: my “formative years” in photography were spent taking B&W film images, and that means that I still instinctively reach for a film camera when I want to take meaningful pictures.
How can I learn — or force myself — to take the same chances with my colour photography as I do in B&W?