B/W or Color

[leuallen]

Fast moving storm front. Ran the gamut for lighting conditions on this day. Other images taken within this three hour time span are of a completely different lighting and nature. Love the clouds but not happy with the foreground. I could not get to a better vantage point so had to take what was given.

Larry

[Paulo Bizarro]

B&W for me.

[Larry Heath]

Yes Sir, B&W for me as well.

[luxborealis]

Love them both, but if I absolutely had to choose - B&W.

Both versions work really well as displayed, but might benefit from two suggestions for "tweaks":

• Any chance of adding a little more exposure to the house so the walls are a little less "muddy"?
• Also, do you have an identical exposure but with the buildings less central. If the two buildings were to right of centre, the strong diagonals would be further accentuated.

[Rendezvous]

I'm going to agree with all the previous commenters! Black and white looks better with this image, but both are nice.

[kikashi]

B&W, definitely: the sky has so much more depth and interest. I agree with Terry's comment about the walls.

Jeremy

[SZRitter]

I think a little dodging and burning, then the B&W would be stunning.

[leuallen]

I have other exposures. As far as the buildings being central, I agree, but there were obstructions that did not allow a better composition and I did not have time to reposition to a better spot. That particular sky configuration only lasted a minute. As to the muddy house chalk that up to jpg conversion. The files on my computer look much better and a B/W print I made looks fine. I generally process for print.

SZRitter: There were a fair amount of local manipulations made. What did I miss? What would you fix?

Larry

[leuallen]

Just out of the oven. Same place. On my way home, I could not resist the excellent sunset. Some say sunsets are a cheap shot but I don't care. HDR with Photomatix LR plugin, finished in LR.

Larry

[Roman Racela]

B&W! I think if the houses were off-center a bit, then it would make it a much stronger image. But I think it's still a beautiful photo.

[graeme]

B & W

Like it.

Graeme

[iluvmycam]

BW for me

[Slim]

BW + 1.  I think you have your verdict.

[leuallen]

As a  contrast and showing the the rapidly changing weather, this picture was taken one mile away and 40 minutes latter from the B/W image.

Larry

[matoqui]

I prefer the B&W version. I think it is more dramatic.

[SZRitter]

leuallen - I would have probably dodged the house a bit more. Right now my eye is drawn to the one line in the cloud that is really bright. While interesting, I don't think it really illustrates the full story of the scene. The scene is as much about this farm house that is weathering these changing conditions, so the house needs to grab a bit more attention. With it's midtone gray, it's there, but it has no life.

If you wanted it to be all about the sky, I would probably burn the house a bit darker, but I fear that would make the entire image feel too top heavy.

[leuallen]

SZRitter

I have dodged the house and it looks better. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Larry

[leuallen]

No need to dodge the house. It's gone. This happens to me quite frequently- I photograph something and come back a short while latter and it is demolished.

Larry

[kikashi]

No need to dodge the house. It's gone. This happens to me quite frequently- I photograph something and come back a short while latter and it is demolished.

Remind me not to tell you where I live!

Jeremy

[SZRitter]

Remind me not to tell you where I live!

Jeremy

I'm in agreement with this one!