Color or B&W? C&C welcomed

iNick · Apr 19, 2011

Which shot do you like better?

philB&W by Dr.Mantis Toboggan, on Flickr

dxqcanada · Apr 19, 2011

#2 ... the human is less distracting.

Though, I will have to say that the shot needs work ... some cropping to emphasis the scissors in hand ... there seems to be something lacking in the presentation.

L0vemedead · Apr 19, 2011

#2 is better.

Wesche · Apr 20, 2011

I like 1 better

Fortfor44 · Apr 20, 2011

Agreed I think #2 is much better. Some croping and perhaps blowing out the human more would bring more atention to the focus.

sleist · Apr 20, 2011

Tip of knife is out of focus and ruins both shots for me.

shufti · Apr 20, 2011

I think the b&w works better. For me, it's more cinematic, if you know what i mean.

iNick · Apr 20, 2011

thanks for the comments guys. im not sure how to go about cropping this shot, anyone care to take a crack at it?

shufti · Apr 20, 2011

ok, i try ..give me a moment...

shufti · Apr 20, 2011

4:3

7:5

5:4

16:9

1:1

KenC · Apr 20, 2011

The 1:1 crop is best, but a vertical would have been even better - the hand, scissors and face are on an almost vertical line. I agree about the tip being out of focus. For me, the color is better because he looks more menacing in that, although normally one would think black and white best for this kind of image. That thing on his shoulder is a little distracting. I like that it looks like another hand, but it's a little too bright.

I hope he doesn't run with those.

iNick · Apr 20, 2011

shufti thank you for taking the time to edit those its much appreciated! i like the 1:1 as well. this was a shot where i was just goofing around and wasn't taking much time to put a serious effort in but considering that i thought it came out alright. im going to try to retake it considering all the C&C because i agree with all of you. thanks again guys!!

RedWylder · Apr 20, 2011

I don't like either-the focus should be on the knife tip. I say try again and try to get the focus right and then worry about processing.

KmH · Apr 20, 2011

iNick said:
this was a shot where i was just goofing around and wasn't taking much time to put a serious effort in

And it shows.

As mentioned it should have been a stronger photo if shot as a vertical, not centrally composed, and with sufficient DOF that you were also sharply in focus. It would have been a more compelling photo in both color, and b&w, and would have offered more possibilites for creative editing.