Black & White Photography

I've always really enjoyed looking at black and white photographs.  To me, black and white photos are classic, clean, beautiful works of art that sometimes say more than even a colored photo.  A colored photograph is vibrant and definitely catches the eye of the viewer.  However, in my opinion, colored photos can also distract the viewer from the details that the photographer is trying to express through their photo.  For example, details such as the emotion being expressed can be misread or completely overlooked because the bright colors take away from said details.  This is where I see black and white photographs as being more beneficial in expression.  As a result of there being a lack of color to distract, the viewers focus will be more on the finite details found within the photograph.  Since the photographer often expresses their message through details, the viewer is more likely to notice that which was overshadowed before.  Also, I enjoy black and white photographs because there always seems to be a story behind them.  Often times when I would visit my grandparents, we would spend time looking at old black and white photographs from when they were children.  It was really interesting to hear about how much history was held in such a photograph.  All of these things make black and white photographs beautiful in a more indirect fashion.  However, black and white photographs also have to be aesthetically pleasing to the viewer.
To learn how to make a photograph so, I read a blog that I have been following that had to do with such photos (http://hubsphotographytips.blogspot.com/2008/10/picture-taking-tip-black-and-white-dslr.html).  Within this post, the photographer says the "...difficulty of shooting with a black and white image in mind is learning to turn your colored vision off."  To take a proper black and white photo, it is necessary to understand and see the different levels of the grayscale within your subject, and to notice how the light hits your subject.  In addition to this knowledge, you may also use the newer photo editing programs to make details more noticeable within the photograph.
Applying all of this knowledge, I hope that I can take photographs that are as beautiful as the ones that I have heard stories about all of my life.