Colour of B&W - which works better?

[davidedric]

Hi,

I recently posted the B&W version of this in a mini-comp, but I wonder which is the more effective shot. With the B&W version, I was intending to bring out the texture of the skin, and to give a rather "prehistoric" look. On the other hand, the colours of the animal are also very striking.

Any other C&C is also most welcome.

Incidentally, the beats is an iguana shot at the "Theatre of the Sea" on the Florida keys. They are free-living, but not native.

[Geoff F]

Against that rather dark background I would prefer the colour version. But the B&W should work well in other conditions.

A slightly tighter crop, of the B&W, at the top to reduce the area of dark background by around half looks better to me.

[Harpo]

Agree with Geoff. I wonder about a square crop on the B&W? To cut out more of the dark background? Sure has an interesting skin texture!

[davidedric]

Thanks for the feedback. Learning for me - look at the final image . I cropped the colour version, and it just never occurred to me to revisit the crop in B&W. Oh well, every day is a school day.

[Mike Buckley]

Very nice, Dave!

It's still remarkable for me to realize that a monochrome version often commands a different crop than a color version (and vice versa), but this is so true.

For me, it's not a matter of color vs. monochrome in this pair of images; instead, it's a matter of which post-processing is most effective. I think you did a better job of bringing out the texture of the subject's skin in the monochrome version, though perhaps it's done a bit too much to my taste. On the other hand, I think the background in the monochrome version is distracting due to the increased dynamic range and contrast.

Did you use a polarizer? I ask because there seems to be glare (lost detail) on the skin that probably could have been avoided using a polarizer.

[davidedric]

Thanks, Mike. I didn't use a polarizer (in fact I don't have one to fit this telephoto) but I would never have thought to use it. Something else to think about! I actually darkened the background with a green filter to make the head stand out more but obviously overdid it. Going back to have another go.

[Shadowman]

B & W, nice image.