Which one do you like best?

[rambler]

If you want to use color, you need to get rid of the red cover in the background. Red is a dominant color that draws the eye right to it. It pulls the eye away from your main subject, the boat, so it is a distraction. Here is one solution.

Use a Selective Color adjustment layer. Select the color red. Increase the Cyan and Magenta to soften the red. Then convert the image to B&W by adding the B&W Adjustment layer. Then invert the white mask to hide the B&W. Then using a white brush, paint over the red awning/cover to reveal the B&W. That is one way to remove the bright red distraction.

 

[zulu42]

I was going to say I prefer B&W but I think rambler has an excellent point.

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

#3 for me also.

 

[mjcmt]

If you want to use color, you need to get rid of the red cover in the background. Red is a dominant color that draws the eye right to it. It pulls the eye away from your main subject, the boat, so it is a distraction. Here is one solution.

Use a Selective Color adjustment layer. Select the color red. Increase the Cyan and Magenta to soften the red. Then convert the image to B&W by adding the B&W Adjustment layer. Then invert the white mask to hide the B&W. Then using a white brush, paint over the red awning/cover to reveal the B&W. That is one way to remove the bright red distraction.

I have a copy w/ toned down red but the muted red looks a bit out of place for me. So I made a version w/ it toned down just a little...a bit better. Not sure what I think.

 

[Gavin@VUTSA]

Black and white

 

[PJM]

B&W.... and #3.

 

[Scott Whaley]

I'm a B&W fan, too. I like #3 in the 2nd set the best. #1 appears to be under exposed while #2 is too bright. #3 has a nice balance.

 

[otherprof]

B/W or color?
View attachment 205818 View attachment 205819

I agree with Weepete and Dean. The black and white is, to me, a much more interesting image, which I would not describe a simply "a picture of a boat."

 

[rambler]

When considering the conversion to B&W ask yourself how important is color to your image.

Then if you decided on B&W remember that contrast and the separation of tone is important to a success of B&W image. Therefore, I like the middle image of mjcmt's versions. There is a nice separation or contrast between the blacks and the whites in the image. In other words, the further the blacks and whites are away from middle gray, the further they are separated from each other, the more contrast there is between them, the more the change in tone.

 

[limr]

Definitely the black and white, and of the three versions posted later, the 3rd one works best, though the brightness of the background boat on the right is a bit distracting in that version. The middle works well in terms of contrast, as rambler mentioned above, though I'm not crazy about the heavy vignette.

And also as rambler mentions, ask yourself if the color is important. For me, it seems this picture is more about lines and contrast, which is emphasized more effectively in b&w. The color version ends up distracting with all the other details that suddenly become more noticeable without that emphasis on the lines and contrast that is offered in the black and white version.