Which One Do You Like Better?

[TallForeigner]

Little boy in Bang Phli. I like the color version, my wife likes the BW version. Which one do you like better?

[The Vulcan]

They both look good - I'd lean a little to the coloured version though

Good shot

[phetaroi]

I'm almost always in favor of the color shot unless the B&W is done for some specific reason. So for me, the question is -- what do you see in the B&W that makes it more real for you?

[TallForeigner]

Well, as I wrote above I personally also prefer the color version. I love my world to be colorful and especially a child's world should be filled with colors. However there are a number of people including my wife who like the BW version better. She believes the BW version shows the beautiful eyes and expression of the little boy better. It boils down to personal taste.

[PNGinBKK]

Well, as I wrote above I personally also prefer the color version. I love my world to be colorful and especially a child's world should be filled with colors. However there are a number of people including my wife who like the BW version better. She believes the BW version shows the beautiful eyes and expression of the little boy better. It boils down to personal taste.

Have you tried playing with Photoshop and layers, allowing you to mix the BW and Colour? I might brighten / liven this up a little?

[TallForeigner]

Actually I tried many versions and various treatments but in the end I preferred the softer look of the image shown above. By brightening it up and/or showing it sharp and crispy the mood somehow changes and the "sweetness of the moment" is lost a bit. But at the end of that day it's just personal taste.

[angiud]

Color

[bkkjames]

BW for me. Look at those eyes pop out at you!

[yumidesign]

the colored version is miore suited to the background color so is superior

[LaoPo]

His T-shirt on the color picture seems cleaner....

BTW: did he fall or did he have an accident ?

LaoPo

[TallForeigner]

BTW: did he fall or did he have an accident ?

LaoPo

Both...

He had an accident: he climbed onto a tree, went out onto a branch that was too weak...he is a wild boy - and which wild boy doesn't end up with some scars now and then?

[yumidesign]

Really the question is. Which image do you prefer, the fact that one is in color is not the crux of the assessment. Its not a question of liking color or b & w

[lifeincnx]

I do think your wife is on to something here as one seems pulled into the eyes region more in the B/W version (again, this is a subjective opinion, and from a poster here of B/W imagery to boot).

You mentioned you prefer the 'softer' look. Can you post the image 'pre-softening'? Just as an FYI, what was post in? Photoshop? Photoshop + NIK? etc. Nice work.

[Mousehound]

In this case I prefer the colour because of the great blend of tones.

[TallForeigner]

Yes, I use Photoshop CS4 for post processing. I always shoot RAW and then I use ACR and Photoshop.

Unfortunately I don't have easy access to the original RAW file and Photoshop file right now. I have the RAW and PS files archived in a separate HD and right now I don't have the time to dig them out, sorry. My electronic archives are in fireproof safety box in my office. Here I showed the finished JPEGs which I have on my actual internal HD.

For a slight softening of the image while preserving the sharpness of selected areas (like the eyes) I mostly use the following simple procedure in Photoshop:

I slightly blur a duplicate layer of the original using Gaussian blur with a blur radius of 30 pixels max. In the layers palette I reduce the opacity of this layer to allow enough detail from the background layer to show through the blur. Then I use the eraser tool and select a very soft brush, reduce the opacity of the brush to 20% and gently erase the blur in the areas that I want to show sharper - that's it.

[jandtaa]

Hi Tallforeigner

I think I prefer the B+W shot. The background is more natural whereas the colour shot extracted onto a pure black background is a little too harsh for my eyes (you missed a bit on the boys arm which gives the game away  . Are you just using the eraser tool or an extraction filter ?). Having said that there's a lot of evident brushwork in the lower left of the B+W version, I guess you were removing distracting background images to bring focus onto the boy.

For the colour shot I would be inclined to composite with another photo for the background for a more natural look.For the B+W shot you could try using the clone tools to remove background distractions. All that said it's still a great portrait shot and is definitely worth spending the time in PS to clean it up a little further.

Cheers for now J   

[quiksilva]

I personally prefer the black and white shot, the character of the boy really does shine through his eyes, and that really does seem to be subject of the photograph after all.