Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape & Nature Photography => Topic started by: Paulo Bizarro on February 25, 2013, 10:40:28 am
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I prefer the B&W one, how about you?
Rgds
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At first I wanted to say color because you did a nice job darkening the sky, and making the lighter blue on the house standout. I'm curious if that was with a polarizer on the lens or a gradient effect in PS?
After comparing, I am leaning towards the black and white image. Mainly because this composition has that nice long diagnal, and the organic complexity of the green grass distracts me downward just a bit. The red terracotta tiles are great though.
Either way, you framed the shot nicely.
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I cannot really choose, both versions are very nice. I would like to see more contrast (not a lot) in the B&W clouds, they look a bit flat. The color image has very nice greens (grass), reds (tiles) and blues (sky)… It's a difficult choice.
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Thanks for the comments. I have used a polarizer to take the shot. It was the first time I went to this location, even though it is quite close to my house. Even though it is abandoned, it is sort of fenced off, so it is not easy to gain access (the fence is ruined in some places).
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I really like the color version. I think the redness of the roof complements the green of the grass. The polarizer has really brought out the dark blue of the sky which blends nicely with the lighter blue on the walls. B&W work best when you have tonal contrast which really brings out texture, lines, and patterns without the "distraction" of color. Do you think there is more contrast brought out by the color version than the contrasts in the B&W? Is there more contrast when the wall is in color than the B&W version?
Maybe the answer lies in what you wanted us to see? Why did you take the image? Why do old buildings have so much attraction? Old barns, sheds and crumbling walls make compelling images. What emotion did you want us to have here? Sometimes I cannot answer such questions in my own images, so I am not trying to be flippant. Which version do you think best portrays your reasoning? Sometimes I am drawn to a subject because of color, so I rule out the B&W.
BTW Check out OnOne Software Perfect Suite 7, B&W. It really has effective ways of post-editing with individual color in B&W conversions. For example it would allow you to darken or lighten the green grass without effecting the rest of the image.
PS Looking at both images again, the black section of the building in the left corner bothers me less in the B&W image, maybe because it goes better with the blackness of the sky than the blue of the sky with the color version. (Ansel Adams included a lot of black spaces in his images)
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Thanks Rambler, really insightful comments. I took this image because to my eyes there wasa good link between the derelict house and the cloudy and somewaht menacing sky. How many storms and rains have contributed to the current condition of this house? That is why I prefer the B&W version.
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Both are excellent but I prefer the B&W. It's just a taste.