I like the colour better now with the crop, John. It brings the separation better.
Printable View
I like the colour better now with the crop, John. It brings the separation better.
Philip'a version is the only one that I find myself concentrating on the subject's facial expression.
You might want to work with the skin tone, as it appears a bit yellow on my calibrated and profiled monitor.
As Greg already said is a nice a clever capture John, if the colour version is "better" that depends...
What is your intent with that picture? Your goal? If you want to show a woman using an umbrella to protect herself from a harsh sun than the colour version is better. If you want to do a more "classic" portrait, trying to mimic old vintage photos than B&W is a must.
Timelessness is possible only when there are no styles displayed in the photo that indicate a particular period. In this case, the woman's dress, hair style and graphic pattern in the umbrella as well as the size of the umbrella render the image less than timeless.