I remember going to the store to intentionally buy black and white film.  That roll of 12 or 24 exposures was like gold and I was even more careful when that was in my camera than when it was a regular roll of color film.  I’ve always had a thing for black and white photography… probably ever since I saw photos of my great-grandparents from when my grandparents were just kids.  There’s just something about them that color photos can’t do.  It seems like they freeze time just a bit more… they somehow have this power to make you look more closely and maybe a bit longer than you might otherwise would.  And without getting too philosophical or just plain weird, the right black and white photos have a way of speaking to my soul that color images don’t.

When I met Kelli and her sweet family at the park to get a few pictures of Anna to celebrate her turning 3, it was a bit overcast and my camera was loving it.  Colors were popping the way they do when the sun’s light is diffused so well and no one else was in the park but us.  It wasn’t my intention to only blog the black and white images, but the more I went through culling her photos, I couldn’t help but see all of them in black and white.  So, for my love of black and white photos, and the timelessness that we all wish we could hold onto from childhood, here are some of my favorites of sweet Anna (and a few of her brother!).