We shot this session on the rocks by the shore and delivered every frame in black and white. That was decided before the first exposure, not afterwards in the edit.
Mono removes the argument
On a bright, hazy coast, colour tends to flatten into grey-blue anyway. Taking it out entirely leaves shape, texture and the gap between two people — which is what the session was about.
Expose for the sky, let the rest go
Working into the light gives you silhouettes and a very clean tonal separation between the couple and the sea. It is unforgiving of clutter, so the frames get simpler as the session goes on.
Commit early
If you shoot for colour and convert later, you generally get a weaker version of both. Deciding on mono at the start changes where you stand and what you wait for.