Traffic and Praying in Beijing

Hi Folks, back again for some much needed constructive criticism on the following two pictures I took whilst in Beijing...

The first one highlights both the crazy traffic of the city and also the deep rooted belief in Bhuddaism whilst the second one further highlights that point by showing people within the Lama Temple praying.

I edited them to black and white with focused color points as I thought it looked better that way... the originals came out flat, gray and dull due to the smog and himidity of the air.

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imho they both seem to lack any pop. I'm focusing too much on the color selective tails of the car but then part of me wants to look at the object hanging from the mirror and neither screams Beijing. this could be downtown Portland on any given day of the week. The second just seems bland as in I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be focused on again. I want to look in the crowd but my eye is drawn again to the color.

I'm sure you took a ton of photos around the city. Have any others? These aren't bad by any means but they just don't seem to stand out. Selective coloring should be used few and far between and I understand why you did it but I still would've liked either full color or B&W better. I think the first one would be reall cool with a desaturated cinema look to it.