Why B&W?

[sdwilsonsct]

Either? Neither? I am often torn between b&w and a more realistic colour version.

[John R]

It's a nice scene, good composition, but the light is flat. I would argue for the BW because it allows the eye to rely more on texture and line and is more forgiving of the flat light. Watch for those dust spots, there are a few in the sky.

JR

[bns]

Very nice and quiet scene. The B&W version has a consistent mood. In the color version for my taste the mood of the sky and the ground are conflicting and I do not see a clue of which part should be winning.
I might have tried to make a few steps forward and a few steps right so as to put the bridge a bit more in the direction of the diagonal.

cheers,
Boudewijn Swanenburg

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

My personal rule of thumb is that if the color adds significantly to the whole thrust of the image without being distracting, the I go with color. Otherwise I go with B&W (which is most of the time, for me.)

With this pair it's a close call for me. The color of the grasses gives a nice warmth to the color version, perhaps adding to the mood. But I don't feel that the picture is about color, so for the reasons John and Boudewijn have mentioned, I would go with the B&W.

[churly]

I prefer the colour version.  I really don't see any conflict between the foreground and the sky.  The lighting and foreground/sky are very typical winter scene where I am and I don't think the scene benefits from the B&W abstraction.  My 2 cents.
Chuck

[thierrylegros396]

Clearly B/W for me.

Thierry

[stamper]

Clearly B/W for me.

Thierry

Agreed.

[Bob_B]

Clearly B/W for me.

Thierry

And for me as well.

[mseawell]

I would go with the black and white for this scene. The light favors it in my opinion. I often have to choose between the two as well. It really depends on what I'm trying to accomplish with the image.

[brandtb]

Scott - don't think the comp. is that strong...the color gives it a "little" bit of a lift...and I like the colors/tones generally...but not color processing per se /B

[sdwilsonsct]

Thanks for all of these comments. The explanations are especially helpful. Mostly I prefer colour.

One thing about this kind of subject is that many viewers assume that colour images are B&W.  Saves me from having to decide.

JohnR -- dust -- ouch! Thanks for the heads up.

[PeterAit]

The B&W for sure! The color version is a mundane "realistic" portrayal of a not-too-interesting subject, but the BW version brings out some more interesting compositional elements and.

[churly]

Wow!  Looks like I totally backed the wrong horse.  It's a bit worisome.

[wolfnowl]

I prefer the B&W, for many of the same reasons mentioned. However the colour in this case is almost a split-tone between the sepia grasses and the blue sky. Some colour images are good because of the colour, but without that we're left with the 'skeleton' - (tone, shape, composition, light...) of the image. Often if I'm wondering if an image is worth pursuing in Lr I'll flip it quickly into B&W to have a look at the bones of it.

Mike.

[sdwilsonsct]

Often if I'm wondering if an image is worth pursuing in Lr I'll flip it quickly into B&W to have a look at the bones of it.

I did something similar here. I processed in B&W and then did some more work in colour. I'll try this some more.

Mike: nice to see you back!
Peter: thanks.
Chuck: at least these days we can retain both versions.

[Jens Peermann]

I have a weird relationship with B/W. In most images it outright scares me and I don't even want to look at them. I'm monochromophobic, if you will. Very few exceptions to that.

However, for portraits I prefer it over color. Here, B/W lets me look into the soul of a person without distracting colors getting in the way.

Weird, isn't it?

[luxborealis]

To my eyes, the subtle hues of colour add an additional depth to the photograph not apparent in the B&W. The B&W is beautiful and could easily stand in its own (and be perhaps improved some very subtle brown-sepia toning). But if I was buying for my wall, I'd choose the colour, despite having a general preference for B&W.

[sdwilsonsct]

So the answer seems to be: "It depends." Not too surprising!
Thanks Jens and Terry. Good insights.

[Gigi]

These were from a grey rainy day with very subdued light. Color gives some depth to the tree shot, while the log is about texture and is better in BW.