Color or B&W

[roanjohn]

Would like to hear your opinion........which would you prefer??

http://www.pbase.com/roanjohn/image/46498168.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/roanjohn/image/46465583.jpg

[cjm]

Black and wihte! It makes it look timeless and brings it together. The colors are too distracting and the girl is too red.

[Croasdail]

BW too - it just is much more contrastie... if that is a word. You can really see her in the BW version - there is a lot to disctract in the color..

[dkord]

The Black and White looks sharper to me, look at her eyes.

[DocFrankenstein]

BW

[jforget1]

I agree with the pick of the B&W, might look good softened a bit, but that is just an opinion.

[Raj]

B&W & I agrer it may look better a little softened. Its up the recipeints & your taste & how you want to present but you can experiment with a little noise too.
Just my 2 cents :-)

[Leorooster]

Agree, B&W.

[markubig]

B&W totally looks more appealing

[Curtis N]

You did this just to make me look dumb, didn't you?:o

You didn't tell me the lighting sucked and made her look orange! I have to agree the B&W is better aesthetically, but only for that reason. I would love to have the RAW file to play with a bit. Certainly the levels could be adjusted for a more natural color.

But I'll concede this one. It's better not to flame a B&W conversion when you haven't seen the original.:) I should have known better.

[Airedale1]

I almost always go with the color shot, but not this time.

[roanjohn]

You did this just to make me look dumb, didn't you?:o



NO!!! :confused: That was certianly not the intention. The orange cast doesn't really bother me in the color shot..........I actually think that it adds character and mood to the photo. Looking at both shots now though, I realized that I was more aggressive with the contrast to the B&W photo..........making it appear sharper..........and therefore more appealing. I will re-work the color shot tonight if I get a chance and see if I can tweak it a bit to fix that color cast....I think it could be just as good as the b&w ;)

Ro1

[Curtis N]

I realized that I was more aggressive with the contrast to the B&W photo...making it appear sharper...and therefore more appealing. I will re-work the color shot tonight if I get a chance and see if I can tweak it a bit to fix that color cast...I had a feeling that contrast might have been another variable in the equation. I'll look forward to the enhanced color version. If you're as good with Photoshop as you are with a camera, you could give the other pro photogs in your neighborhood some tough competition.

[roanjohn]

OK.........so I fixed the color shot to remove the orange tint and added a bit more contrast:

ORIGINAL:

http://www.pbase.com/roanjohn/image/46498168.jpg

EDITED:

http://www.pbase.com/roanjohn/image/46547993.jpg

Is that better?? :confused:

Ro1

[Curtis N]

Much better. Nice job!
If you ran the poll again, I'm guessing the B&W would still win because the colored lighting is still doing some weird stuff to the image, but it wouldn't be such a landslide.

Colored lighting in a theatre, skillfully controlled, can be dramatic and powerful and add immeasurably to the story being told. Colored lighting for a dance competition - I guess I just don't get it.

Thanks, Roanjohn. Keep up the good work!

[InskiP]

I LOVE that blue color (in general), however, in this case I think it's pulling my attention away from the dancers which are the main subject. With the BW version my attention goes straight to the dancers and it says there...

[Fooboy]

Nice job with fixing the color one. It gets my vote now. :)

[roanjohn]

Thanks, Roanjohn. Keep up the good work!

No problem!!! I'm actually glad that I reworked the colored image. (BTW, the dance school preferred the colored version).........so in the end, thats really all that matters.........What the client wants!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: BOOO!!!

Ro1

[Curtis N]

...so in the end, thats really all that matters...What the client wants!The customer is always right! However, your opinion as a photographer matters, too. If you aren't proud of what you produce, that takes the enjoyment out of it, whether you're taking pictures or pouring concrete. Personal pride in both workmanship and artistic style make the difference between a job you love and a job that just pays the bills.

[JMAS]

The B&W is so much moody.
realy better at helping to center the attention on the girls eyes.
Artistically better. Maybe not for use in a promotion of tradicional dance for young people.

[Big John]

OK, this is one of the very rare instances where I actually prefer the black and white! I also must say that after removing the orange color cast from the original it looks vastly improved. I know this is from a dance competition and that would explain why you would want to keep the male dancer's white placard attached to his back, but my eyes keep getting drawn to it as a big distraction.
IMHO it would look better with the sign either darkened quite a bit or cloned out altogether.

[skade]

Definately B&W gets my vote!

[Keiffer]

Nice job Roan john, Much better but I still like the B&W. Nice shot by the way.

[Ron Wilson]

The B&W. But I think that the colour shot could be improved by turning those blues way down.

[roanjohn]

OK, this is one of the very rare instances where I actually prefer the black and white! I also must say that after removing the orange color cast from the original it looks vastly improved. I know this is from a dance competition and that would explain why you would want to keep the male dancer's white placard attached to his back, but my eyes keep getting drawn to it as a big distraction.
IMHO it would look better with the sign either darkened quite a bit or cloned out altogether.

Hmmm...........:confused: Removing the numbered sign would alter the scene so drastically............. I really can't see myself doing that. I think the sign is an important part of the image.............And it adds to the whole story (competition, everybody is numbered etc....etc.......). Ro1

[roanjohn]

The B&W. But I think that the colour shot could be improved by turning those blues way down.

You mean the blues in the background yes?? I'll try if that makes it better.

Ro1

[tupe]

I almost always go with the color shot, but not this time.Same here.

[TundraBunny]

I like the B/W best because it draws your attention to the girls face. Leans more toward the mood. The costume is beautiful but it and the blue in the background tend to distract even though it is a good picture. Just depends on whether your going for the mood or overall color. That's my two bits.:) Not a mistake...it's inflation.