Colour, B&W, neither?

invisible · Dec 10, 2012

I think I know how I feel about this image but would like to crowdsource the decision

Mully · Dec 10, 2012

B&W for shure.... it makes a better B&W than color IMHO Nice shot!!

dxqcanada · Dec 10, 2012

Hmm, from the other images I have seen from you ... this one not so good.

STIC · Dec 10, 2012

Mully · Dec 10, 2012

In the US .... it is spelled COLOR but neither is wrong

STIC · Dec 10, 2012

sleist · Dec 10, 2012

B&W. However, if I were to shoot this in color I would have taken a completely different approach to framing, composition, and color processing.
What I'm trying to say here is that you clearly seem to see subjects like this in B&W, and so you set up your shot to work best in that medium.

The shot in color, in my opinion, fails.

STIC · Dec 10, 2012

ceeboy14 · Dec 10, 2012

I agree the lack of composition makes the shot less than a great desire. I disagree as to B&W sucking everything out of the image. From that standpoint the image is strong either or...but each to his/her own opinion. I have rarely found an image that doesn't show as well in B&W as it does in color and in many instances the B&W is much better...but I guess it depends on your background.

Desi · Dec 10, 2012

Sorry, neither of them quite work for me.

In #1 the mood contrast of bright blue sky and red brick and dreary brown foreground makes the image a bit confusing. The building is the center of attention and doesn't let the eye wander, yet it doesn't have the presence to warrant being centered like that. Crop out the foreground and the mood changes.

The BW works better in this sense for me. Less confused. I still feel the composition too stiflingly centered. I'm kinda wanting a sense of loneliness or desolation with the image centered more on empty space. I'd crop out foreground and bring the building to the left. Also, the impact of the tree is lessened as it is lost against the darkened sky.

Desi

Demers18 · Dec 10, 2012

Mully said:
In the US .... it is spelled COLOR but neither is wrong

But in Canada it is spelled colour and he is in Canada.

I would have liked to see the rest of the shack on the right. Not if it was possible otherwise I'm sure you would have included it.
As for which, well I think they both work. I wonder though, if you could decrease the saturation, may work as well.

invisible · Dec 10, 2012

Thanks for the candid feedback, everybody.

The other day I read on some forum (it might've been this one) a comment from someone saying that when a photo is not good enough then no amount of post-processing will make it good. In my mind I agreed 100% with that on paper at least.

But then I thought... When we see a photo that moves us in any way, how do we even know that there is in fact a good photo under all the makeup? Moreover: do we even care? I guess it all depends on how we're experiencing the image as a viewer or as a critic.

Anyway, this whole thing made me go to the archives to look for any image that I had never processed because I thought it wasn't good enough to bother putting some makeup on it. Time for an exercise.

In this photo, if you take the tree out of the picture, and maybe also the broken window, you have absolutely nothing of interest left. The house itself, with the fake-brick front, is useless. I don't think the framing is good or bad, but the lack of anything really interesting kind of makes us feel that the comp is uninteresting as well. I don't remember what I had in mind when I shot this scene (in terms of colour or B&W, I mean), so I processed it both ways. I didn't like the results. I removed some of the bottom in an attempt to make the composition more interesting (you're seeing the cropped version here) and still didn't like the results. So I let a day go by and then looked at the photo(s) again. Today I didn't think they were as bad as I thought they were yesterday, so I posted them here.

I don't think a single photo would be enough to prove the above comment one way or the other, but this photo in particular is on its way to the shredder. If I had to choose between the two versions, I'd take the B&W though.

Thank you all again.

Frequency · Dec 10, 2012

Only if i am forced to choose one i will go for one and that too with much reluctance. Each has its own merits and demerits and each will have its own admirers; The color pleases where as the monochrome creates a tension, an enjoyable tension. It is clearly stated that no B&W conversion offers as much details as available in color. So that need not be taken as a demerit of it. Finally i decided to choose neither and take home both

PS: American English:Color; British English: Colour