Colour vs B&W (again!)

[Dez]

I certainly don't want to drag out the eternal colour vs monochrome question again. Some pictures work one way, some the other. But here is a picture about which I just can't decide. There is a derelict ship in Lake Ontario in a little bay near St Catherines Ontario, that is a much-photographed subject. I had a go at it a few months ago with my Nikon SP and Nikkor 21mm lens (the F version, I used my homemade adapter). I like the effect of the wide, but I just can't decide whether the shot is better in colour, or rendered into B&W. I haven't fiddled either version except to pull the profile just a tad darker in my scanner for the B&W version.






Opinions?

Cheers,
Dez

 

[filmtwit]

Color/colour

 

[zauhar]

Although there is a nice pallet of color here, I prefer the B & W version.

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

I see life in color, not black and white. I vote for the color version.

Not that some pictures do look nice in b&w, I just like the color in that one.

 

[Darshan]

I prefer color.

 

[Morry Katz]

Even though I work almost exclusively in b&w I think this image works better in colour. The direction and quality of the light suits a colour treatment more than monochrome.

 

[gilgsn]

I usually prefer B&W photographs, but for this one, I vote color.

Gil.

 

[burancap]

I like both, but would choose B&W for this image.

 

[Scrambler]

I usually prefer B&W photographs, but for this one, I vote color.

Gil.

Likewise.

The colour gives contrast between the sky and the superstructure which is diminished in the B&W. It also enhances separation between the boat and the water, and the sense of the sky and water mirroring each other. There are no strong light/shadow contrasts which would have rendered better in B&W, and no reason to prefer it IMHO.

I would be interested to hear what people who prefer B&W see between the two images.

 

[maxmadco]

Likewise.

The colour gives contrast between the sky and the superstructure which is diminished in the B&W. It also enhances separation between the boat and the water, and the sense of the sky and water mirroring each other. There are no strong light/shadow contrasts which would have rendered better in B&W, and no reason to prefer it IMHO.

I would be interested to hear what people who prefer B&W see between the two images.

Same here, color would be my choice.

 

[nongfuspring]

To be honest, neither. The most dramatic aspect of the boat is its tilt, but you've angled the camera off the horizon line half way towards the lean, also, composition nothing special. To me what dictates wether to use black and white or colour isn't the image so much as what you're trying to achieve with it.

 

[Pioneer]

I have looked at this image for quite awhile now. I think you should go back and try again. You haven't found a really striking composition yet. Once you do I think it will become clear which direction to take it.

I have a particular tree I have been shooting off and on for over two years and still haven't found the right composition. I know the right photograph is there somewhere, and I will find it one day, just not yet.

 

[Dez]

Thank you for the input; you are quite right, the composition leaves something to be desired. I have a feeling I will be visiting this ship many times. There is a good picture in there somewhere. Here is another from a slightly different viewpoint, but with the horizon straight.

This must be with the 21 and the first one with the 28, as this is from a closer viewpoint.



Cheers,
Dez

 

[VinceC]

Dez,

I'm going to vote for the color rendition as well ... the way the faded reds and blacks and warm wood tones contrast against the cool blues of the sky and sea.

For the most part, I shoot very differently for black and white than I do for color ... for color I am aware of things like the palette in the above picture and seek to maximize it. For black and white, I look for tones and contrasts and shapes and the character of the light. I'm one of those who prefers not to shoot color and b&w at the same time because the approaches can be so different. This even carries over if I set a digital camera to b&w mode. Just about the only time I convert a color image to black and white is if I realize while shooting that the subject would work better in b&w and then ignore the color or use to post-process a yellow filter before converting to b&w.

just my two cents Canadian.