One of the only things I can recall from a film class I took back in school is the lesson the professor gave using Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho as the example.  To be more specific – the infamous stabbing scene.  You know, the one that has the shrieky music, the woman in the shower, chocolate syrup for blood? While watching the film during the class, the sound was kept on. We watched again, a second time, without any sound. The difference in the emotions conjured by the film with and without sound were drastic, and it intrigued me.

If that one little detail is taken away from the whole, an entirely different message and/or emotion was portrayed. 
 
That being said, I thought I’d try my hand at my own little examples.  I rode my bike on down to Sunset Park (an amazing little park next to the coast guard station in downtown Ocean City, MD), took the most beautiful, vibrant occurrence in the entire universe (a sunset, if you didn’t read the title), and removed the one thing that makes a sunset so breathtaking: its color. To really see how much difference removing the color creates. I’ve also included some full-color photos as well. Who doesn’t like a nice sunset photograph?
 

Photo by Chris Maust

Photo by Chris Maust

Photo by Chris Maust

Photo by Chris Maust

Photo by Chris Maust

Photo by Chris Maust

Photo by Chris Maust.

 
Let me know how these changes in imagery and color affect you by writing your thoughts in the comments box below. 
 
Also, while taking these photos, I ran into some wonderful little skater kids. Upon being asked “wanna be on the internet tomorrow morning?” promptly replied “Yes” and allowed me to snap some shots of them. So, here you go guys: you’re on the internet.
 

Photo by Chris Maust

Photo by Chris Maust

Photo by Chris Maust

All photos by Chris Maust.

To see more photos by Chris, check out these ShoreBread articles: