B&W or color or neither?

Johnboy2978 · May 31, 2005

My buddy and I took a trip to Mabry Mills this weekend and took these. This is a destination that is much better in early spring and autumn, and we are planning on going back and doing like a 4 seasons group arrangement. Of these though, what do you think? I'll sit back now and wait for a thrashing.

JonMikal · May 31, 2005

i can't decide between color/b&w. my first reaction is when i see a pic of mabry mills im thinking fall colors. i like the green, but its not catching my eye...im still not sure. what i am sure about is the shot needs to include a bit more all around space to appreciate the setting. you're too closly cropped especially on the bottom; nearly cutting off a great reflection.

seora · May 31, 2005

i prefer the b&w

Neophyte Photographer · May 31, 2005

i say...BOTH! Excellent shot! I love it!

darin3200 · May 31, 2005

Black and white, although I am impartial to B&W photography in general, the color one seems to have a bad reflection off of the water in the bottom-right which changes the water color. I also like the lone goose in the B&W

Toffee · May 31, 2005

I like the b&w the best.

thebeginning · May 31, 2005

B&W, definitely. the lightness of the roof, the straightness of the shot (color one seems to have a right to left tilt for some reason), and the duck make the bw one stand out. also, the bw one causes my eyes to want to search around and find details, which is good for this image. not because there is no subject, but because it seems more interesting. The reason bw works in this image (to me at least) is because it's something that you would obviously expect to see in color, and a black and white images helps you to look closer at an image rather than as a whole. for me, in color images i see color, and that's what my mind sees, which can be reaaally good of course, but only if the colors truly make the image more intriguing. In this shot, the colors are just what you would expect and nothing too extremely fascinating (not bad, just not gorgeous). When i see black and white, i see details, and that black and white shot has many interesting details. The only thing i like better about the color shot really is the framing. The wooden thing on the right side of the image (next to the duck) in the BW one is a little distracting to me. all in all, i just wrote waaaay too much. and you probably didnt want to hear all that. oops.

great shots, i do prefer the BW one though (why couldnt i have just said that instead??)!

photong · May 31, 2005

both. its hard to decide. im leaning mroe for BW because theres a lot of green.

in the first one..is that a chicken??

kilifila66 · May 31, 2005

the black and white photo has a better feel to it, the color has too much green.

I vote b&w

dalebe · May 31, 2005

I prefer the colour for showing more detail on the reflection, but i think that b&w gives it more character, nice work on both.

Johnboy2978 · May 31, 2005

Thanks for the replies thus far. I think this is the most responses that I've ever received for one of my pics! I think overall, I prefer the b&W myself. I tend to be leaning more towards b/w in general these past few months. I'm trying to work more on composition and think more about the shot before I release the shutter than in earlier posts (hopefully you can see some improvement). As I said, my plan is to perhaps revisit it again in the fall, winter and in the spring, and perhaps frame them altogether as a series. We got there a couple of weeks too late to catch the flowers in full bloom, thus, there was an abundance of verdant trees and the bank but little else to catch your attention. Fortunately, the sun was cooperative to capture the reflection.

JonMikal, thanks for the critique of this. I agree that it is cropped a little too tight. I might repost this once I get my film developed as I shot a roll of color and b/w with the Pentax as well. Actually, I probably spent more time composing the film shots than these with the digital. I just wanted some immediate gratification and I have less variance with the lens of the Sony.

thebeginnng: I think your critique helps define why I am leaning more towards b&w these days. I think you probably do more examination to the actual subject with b/w than color as there is less distraction. Good comments.

Photong: it's a duck. There were four out there that day.
Anyone else?