Hubby let me out of the house today....

[MommyOf4Boys]

And here is one shot I took while out all by myself!

 

[EBphotography]

Great shot Sara.

I think if I were to critique, I would crop it tighter. But I don't know where! In the black and white one anyways, the little pile of hay doesn't add anything, whereas in the color it adds depth. So I guess I would leave color as is, and then crop the bottom off of the b and w.

 

[ShootHoops]

Color. Definitely love the color.

 

[WNK]

I agree... color is the way to go with this one.

 

[Peanuts]

Colour! The blues and greens work perfectly together.

It might just be my monitor, but both of these appear a tad bit oversharpened, which always happens (with my photos at least) when downsized. Just thought I would point that out and ask if anyone else sees it.

 

[Efergoh]

The sky begs for color. I'm a B&W man, myself, but I prefer the color photo here.

Excellent contrast on both!

 

[Tiberius]

The Contrast makes the Color Version wonderful. The main problem with the B&W is that it looks like it was just Desaturated. If you have Photoshop, I reccomend trying the "Calculations" tool. Shot looks fantastic and very contrasty with Red/Red/Multiply (but I won't post it since you didn't give specific permission to modify).

 

[MommyOf4Boys]

The Contrast makes the Color Version wonderful. The main problem with the B&W is that it looks like it was just Desaturated. If you have Photoshop, I reccomend trying the "Calculations" tool. Shot looks fantastic and very contrasty with Red/Red/Multiply (but I won't post it since you didn't give specific permission to modify).

Please do, I would love to see it. I have the worst trouble with black and white sometimes...and sometimes I can make fantastic b/w..I just really need to learn a bulletproof method! lol
Please tell me more about this calculations tool.

 

[Tiberius]

While people may complain about Rockwell's equipment reviews, his article on converting pics to B/W is right on. Describes several methods, including the Calculations tool.

Just to give you an example:

Your original Image:

Desaturated:

Calculations: Red/Red/Multiply

Anti-Noise Filter + Calculations: Red/Red/Multiply

(the last one was just a bit of personal preference. You lose a bit of sharpness in the grass but the sky was smoother. I couldn't decide which I liked better so I posted both). The Calculations Tool allows you to pick two channels (between Red, Green, Blue, and Gray) and merge them into a single grayscale layer in any of a variety of different ways. For 99% of shots, Multiply will look best, and for a vast majority of the shots I've looked at (especially nature ones) Red/Red produces the most contrast and most vivid shots.

 

[MommyOf4Boys]

ok, I hope I did not go overboard on this....
Thanks Tiberius.
I only did channel mixer on this, which I normally do, but I usually just play it safe making my photos look kind of blan and just desaturated, so be honest here:

 

[Hair Bear]

I find that one the sky is just too dark for me, it has lost its friendliness

 

[chris82]

colour def does it for me.Its something about that sky

 

[Tiberius]

I like that one as well. I don't mess with the Channel Mixer much because too often it blows out my highlights, but in that instance it brings out a lot of contrast.

 

[Efergoh]

...and sometimes I can make fantastic b/w..I just really need to learn a bulletproof method!

B&W Film? :greenpbl: