Confused! Color or B&W?!?

[kunaldaswani]

Please lemme know which you prefer. Color or B&W?!?!
Please critique also...

[Triglav]

Colour...

It is a very good shot, nice colours!! I just don't like the motor bumping against the left frame and a bit too much road, the sky is far more interesting then the road. It looks like it rides against a wall.

[blinking81]

Colour.

Or you need to change how you converted to B&W, i'd be intersted to see how it would look more contrasty, much more black. The sky seems to have lost some of its impact. All the tones are too similar in the B&W.

Beautiful picture by the way, the light behind the bike is spot on. Any reason its such a close crop to the left side?

[steevdavis62]

I slightly prefer colour..

I wanna be diferent to the others though, and saw i LOVE the left side framing. Sure its breaks the rules of good composition. But thats what great photography is about, breaking the rules in ways that work. I love it. Great job!

[stuart]

ahhhh black and white im a fan of b&w however in this case the colour is sooo much better the georgious cheery metalic paint just looks magic the glow around the bike almost as if the good Lord himself is giving it his stamp of approval the only thing i would suggest with this picture is to pan to the left a bit and centre the bike in the frame moreand to be a bit more artie lie down on the road ,so the road starts in the frame about where the centre line is.gee its a good shot the beauty of nature with the beauty of a man made machine

[Saralonde]

I'm also a big b&w fan, but the color works a little better in this picture. Triglav brings up an interesting point about it looking like its up against a wall, but the background is really nice.

[nfnitloop]

I like the color one at this point. The B&W should have more contrast (as has already been said).
It seems everyone is polarized on the framing issue. I'm going to jump into the LOVE the left side framing camp.
But here's another issue to polarize everyone . The halo around the bike may make it look like it's blessed by God and maybe you've done it on purpose. But to me, it gives it away that you've given this shot an HDR treatment. (I hope I'm correct ... hehe)
HDR is really cool if done correctly (there, I've jumped into that camp too), and this one is done well... except the halo was the first thing I saw and apart from distracting me from the cool looking plants (weeds? ) behind the bike and the texture of the road, it also looks a tad unrealistic.
Don't get me wrong, this is something for me to aspire to. I hope I can get some shots half this good. These were the words out of my mouth: "Wow. Oh, but it's got a little halo." Just one minor thing and I really like it otherwise.

[googlit]

I thought the same thing as nfnitloop on this one (about the HDR)... the halo's a dead giveaway for HDR.

On the color/b&w front, I'd say I prefer color on this one. The colors are fantastic, with the hints of gold and all. The black & white looks good too, but I personally prefer the color.

[RainPacket]

I think the reason people dislike the left-side framing on this is that it's too MUCH compositional tension.

The bike is pointing off to the left, to somewhere we can't see. We want to know where the bike is pointing, because it naturally draws our eye that way... and we can't! Where is the bike going? There's no image! It drives us mad, precious, MAD! WAAAUGH!

...anyway, melodramatic illustration aside, sometimes that effect works well. (A portrait with someone looking off out of the shot can really be effective, at times!) But more often, it distracts people. If the bike were more towards the right edge, the bike is pointing in towards the shot, and it naturally directs your eye into something we still actually have image for.

Or, alternatively, imagine if the bike were where it is right now, but flipped around to face the other direction?

At any rate, I think that's why the framing is something folks are remarking on. I am, of course, merely a dedicated amateur, so take this advice with a grain of salt.

[kunaldaswani]

Originally Posted by Triglav

Colour...

It is a very good shot, nice colours!! I just don't like the motor bumping against the left frame and a bit too much road, the sky is far more interesting then the road. It looks like it rides against a wall.

Thank you! i think maybe its too much to the left.

Originally Posted by blinking81

Colour.

Or you need to change how you converted to B&W, i'd be intersted to see how it would look more contrasty, much more black. The sky seems to have lost some of its impact. All the tones are too similar in the B&W.

Beautiful picture by the way, the light behind the bike is spot on. Any reason its such a close crop to the left side?

Thank you! Please feel free to edit and re post my image (if you want/have the time) to show me how to covert it to black and white. I still have to find a good method. I just use the tint feature in picasa.

Originally Posted by steevdavis62

I slightly prefer colour..

I wanna be diferent to the others though, and saw i LOVE the left side framing. Sure its breaks the rules of good composition. But thats what great photography is about, breaking the rules in ways that work. I love it. Great job!

thank you! i alos quite liked the left compostion but now i think after all these comments maybe its not happening and should have tried what rain packet has said

Originally Posted by stuart

ahhhh black and white im a fan of b&w however in this case the colour is sooo much better the georgious cheery metalic paint just looks magic the glow around the bike almost as if the good Lord himself is giving it his stamp of approval the only thing i would suggest with this picture is to pan to the left a bit and centre the bike in the frame more and to be a bit more artie lie down on the road ,so the road starts in the frame about where the centre line is.gee its a good shot the beauty of nature with the beauty of a man made machine

Thanks! will try what u have said during the next shoot!

Originally Posted by Saralonde

I'm also a big b&w fan, but the color works a little better in this picture. Triglav brings up an interesting point about it looking like its up against a wall, but the background is really nice.

Thank you for your opinion

Originally Posted by nfnitloop

I like the color one at this point. The B&W should have more contrast (as has already been said).
It seems everyone is polarized on the framing issue. I'm going to jump into the LOVE the left side framing camp.
But here's another issue to polarize everyone . The halo around the bike may make it look like it's blessed by God and maybe you've done it on purpose. But to me, it gives it away that you've given this shot an HDR treatment. (I hope I'm correct ... hehe)
HDR is really cool if done correctly (there, I've jumped into that camp too), and this one is done well... except the halo was the first thing I saw and apart from distracting me from the cool looking plants (weeds? ) behind the bike and the texture of the road, it also looks a tad unrealistic.
Don't get me wrong, this is something for me to aspire to. I hope I can get some shots half this good. These were the words out of my mouth: "Wow. Oh, but it's got a little halo." Just one minor thing and I really like it otherwise.

Yes you are correct... HDR!!! thanks for the feedback!

Originally Posted by googlit

I thought the same thing as nfnitloop on this one (about the HDR)... the halo's a dead giveaway for HDR.

On the color/b&w front, I'd say I prefer color on this one. The colors are fantastic, with the hints of gold and all. The black & white looks good too, but I personally prefer the color.

You too are right.. it is HDR! Thanks for the feedback!

Originally Posted by RainPacket

I think the reason people dislike the left-side framing on this is that it's too MUCH compositional tension.

The bike is pointing off to the left, to somewhere we can't see. We want to know where the bike is pointing, because it naturally draws our eye that way... and we can't! Where is the bike going? There's no image! It drives us mad, precious, MAD! WAAAUGH!

...anyway, melodramatic illustration aside, sometimes that effect works well. (A portrait with someone looking off out of the shot can really be effective, at times!) But more often, it distracts people. If the bike were more towards the right edge, the bike is pointing in towards the shot, and it naturally directs your eye into something we still actually have image for.

Or, alternatively, imagine if the bike were where it is right now, but flipped around to face the other direction?

At any rate, I think that's why the framing is something folks are remarking on. I am, of course, merely a dedicated amateur, so take this advice with a grain of salt.

I think i totally agree with what your saying! maybe i should have composed it the way you suggested! maybe next time! thank you!