Between Winter And Spring

I shoot more and more pure b&w and very often with the "in camera"-b&w mode. It is simpler, quicker and you concentrate yourself more on the main image elements and their b&w effects.
So it is not only "the best possible" technical image quality, that is important. More important is in my eyes the best possible image composition. (Important is for instance, that the exposition is done properly and that the photographer uses the right b&w settings.)
The digital photography generally is very helpful for developing the right b&w-mode, because it offers the photographer a preview directly after our shot. So we can change our settings directly on location, if necessary. But we should not switch between b&w and colour too much - the Leica M9 monochrome for instance is based on the idea of reducing the view to the main aspects of monochrome photography without the possibility of shooting in colour. Less is more!
The "in camera b&w mode" of ordinary DSLRs is in my eyes the "poor man's" Leica M9 monochrome... ;-)