Which B&W?

[batmura]

#1

Staten Island 2 by batmura, on Flickr

#2

Staten Island South Beach 2 by batmura, on Flickr

[Roman Racela]

#2

[jjj]

The first, it works much better with the black border against the grey LL background. Same picture however looks awful on the black flicker backdrop.
I'd like to see the second one with a white border/frame on the black backdrop, though it make still be a bit heavy. BTW I usually prefer low key to high key images.

A good example of how backdrop/borders can make break pictures.

[john beardsworth]

Isn't the border needed because the sky is too weak? #1 seems the more interesting, just needs the sky burning in.

[jjj]

Dark edges bleed into a dark background, just as light areas like skies bleed into light backgrounds.
If LL forum BG was white then the sky would probably appear darker than it does now. Perception is a sneaky thang. 

A + B are same shade.




As are all the small squares in this image.

[john beardsworth]

As I said! I prefer #1 but the sky is weak and has needed a heavy border to make the composition hold together. The picture may well look better with the sky graduated and / or edge burning.

[eddy1234]

#1 is a powerful composition

[batmura]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. After post-processing #1, I thought it looked kind of overdone. Glad some of you think it's better than the direct grayscale version of the original. With number 1, my goal was to get the sea to look whiter but the poles also kind of suffered. Maybe a dramatic sky would have enhanced this shot.

[jjj]

Depends if you want a high key or low key image. Then again both may work.