Which version of this photo do you prefer. Colour or black and white ?

achtungbarry · 30-05-2009 02:34PM #1

Any other c & c welcome.

Spent a great afternoon one evening in the town of Brive in France chatting to the locals as they played petanque/boules on the town square. There was much rugby related slagging (I had my grand slam t-shirt on). After spending about an hour photographing these guys they invited me to play. I gotta say it was one of my best travel experiences.

Anyway here are 2 versions of a shot I took of some of the men watching the game.

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jen_23 · 30-05-2009 02:38PM

I really like the black and white. It makes the shot more interesting imo.
Though one thing in the colour one is that the eye is drawn more to the boules.

Trev M · 30-05-2009 04:26PM

B&W for me

majiktripp · 30-05-2009 04:29PM

B&W too. Colour is too saturated in the first one and heavy on the HDR. Works with the B&W though very well.

DaireQuinlan · 30-05-2009 07:42PM

majiktripp wrote: »

B&W too. Colour is too saturated in the first one and heavy on the HDR. Works with the B&W though very well.

I agree, the colour one is a bit overdone. The B&W is nice BUT I'd try a different mix. Looks like you channel mixed that at 100% red to get the B&W version. I'd mix in a lot more blue. The blue channel, particularly for older guys like in this picture introduces a lot more character into the faces. Using only the red channel any wrinkles and lines tend to wash out a little.

kensutz · 30-05-2009 07:59PM

B&W is a nice touch!!

seanybiker · 30-05-2009 08:02PM

Black and white for me to. Colour wicked bright in the colour one.

ThOnda · 30-05-2009 08:13PM

B&W for me, I HATE overdone colour HDR pictures.

CabanSail · 30-05-2009 08:55PM

B&W for me too.

I like the composition & the Boule in the foreground.

The skin tones seem to be a bit too burnt & the background is distracting but could easily be toned down.

Bella_Blue_Star · 30-05-2009 09:08PM

These are both beautiful shots, really. While most people seem to prefer B&W, I have to say that I prefer the colour version. Each to their own!

Brndn · 30-05-2009 09:10PM

The B&W one looks so well, I've started to desaturate my HDR stuff, definitely looks better.

mehfesto2 · 30-05-2009 09:11PM

I'd prefer to see the colour toned down a bit personally, or a different mix of B&W - the guy on the far right looks wrong - there's no difference between his head and shirt!

Great pic all the same!

HappyGirl1976 · 30-05-2009 11:18PM

I've a soft spot for B&W photos anyway... and I like the depth of the B&W one here. But someone had a good point in that your eye is definitely drawn to the boche balls (or whatever they call it in france) when in color.

PS - just checked out your website and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the picture on your home page... breathtaking!

paulusdu · 30-05-2009 11:21PM

I'll be a sheep and say Baaahlack and White

Both are good pictures, though B&W does it for me

Taltos · 30-05-2009 11:26PM

Not sure about the B&W
At this time of the night that first guy on the left looks abit like one of the undead.

Not trying to be funny - but just how it appears to me.

omb0wyn5ehpij9 · 30-05-2009 11:27PM

I prefer the B & W

hatetherain! · 30-05-2009 11:27PM

Colour one foe me.............great shot!:)

clive_odonohoe · 30-05-2009 11:29PM

why does everyone process their colour images like this these day's????

padocon · 30-05-2009 11:51PM

Has to be colour!

MooseJam · 30-05-2009 11:55PM

two of the guys in the bw look like the undead, the guys on the left and right - far too pale

Click Clicky · 31-05-2009 02:19AM

The HDR version is definitely overcooked.

A B&W version would be better, but not the one you have here. Try playing around with the channels and the contrast and get a much more vibrant B&W version as opposed to a flat greyscale.

The composition is good though. You have the makings of a really good shot here, just keep working on the processing.

Kintarō Hattori · 31-05-2009 06:11AM

Going against the grain I prefer the first one but I'd much prefer it with subtler colours. I agree with the folk here that it looks too saturated. The B&W version I'm afraid is just too flat looking for me.

As another poster pointed out the composition of the photo is excellent, so keep it up.

achtungbarry · 31-05-2009 10:11AM

Genuinely appreciate the comments folks. It's amazing what a little outside perspective can bring.

Sometimes you can be working on a photo for to long and you miss things so it is always great to get second opinions.

Here are reworked versioned.

It is true that I went a bit OTT on the HDR on the colour one. I've never really done HDR before so I did a few "normal ones" and wanted to try a more extreme one and didn't dislike it as much as I thought I would. I do agree that it was a little over saturated though so I've toned that down a bit. The painterly effect I don't mind for this type of shot tbh. You see some that have no contrast at all and huge halos around everything. They're the ones I can't stand.

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As for the black and white, the points about the faces being washed out were spot on. It made them lose the character that made me notice them in the first place and they did look a bit like zombies so I've darkened the skin tones a little to bring back that detail.

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Many thanks for the very helpful comments.

Click Clicky · 31-05-2009 10:27AM

Both much better, well done.

Where was the shot taken, btw?

AnimalRights · 31-05-2009 11:05AM

Click Clicky wrote: »

The HDR version is definitely overcooked.

A B&W version would be better, but not the one you have here. Try playing around with the channels and the contrast and get a much more vibrant B&W version as opposed to a flat greyscale.

The composition is good though. You have the makings of a really good shot here, just keep working on the processing.

I agree 100% with all these points.

achtungbarry · 31-05-2009 11:17AM

Click Clicky wrote: »

Both much better, well done.

Where was the shot taken, btw?

Thanks. The shot was taken in Brive in South West France. I spent a year there 10 years ago as a language assistant. That is where I met the missus so we were back visiting. Decent rugby team there. They won the Heineken in 1997 I think.

PaulieC · 01-06-2009 10:13PM

Hee's a shot I took today in the garden, a shot I've seen here probably dozens of times :pac:. I only realised afterwards that the colour and B&W are almost identical.

Colour

B&W

Which version of this photo do you prefer. Colour or black and white ?

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