I have some cool b&w shots I took in Chicago that I will post later in this thread.
But for now, I just want to address one major flaw I keep seeing in pictures people take of friends. When you're shooting a frame, keep in mind the composition of the image -- where the subject lies in the frame. (Yes, obviously pics can be cropped digitally after the fact, but it's easier just to shoot it correctly).
First, imagine the frame in a grid with 9 squares like so, with four intersecting points:
The focus of your shot should be where the lines intersect, not in the direct center of the frame. If you're shooting a person, the eyes should be right at the cross points.
A bad composition leaves too much headroom, and places the person awkwardly in the middle of the frame, like this:
Instead, try putting them to one side and take off some of the headroom, so their eyes are at one of the two upper-edge cross-points:
Furthermore, if you're shooting a close-up, forget about trying to put the whole head in the frame. This usually makes the person too low in the shot.
It's ok to crop off some of their hair/head in order to get better framing in a closeup.
This advice will be pretty 101-obvious to most people, but I still see a lot of novice photographers make these bad mistakes, and therefore all your party pics and memorable moments are ruined by crappy composition.