Missouri Flats Schoolhouse
Madison River Schoolhouse (BW)
Picking photos for your portfolio can be difficult as well as a very rewarding process. Often times I will work an image a couple different ways in Lightroom before I decide to jury opinions from others on the results. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t simply hand over the keys to the kingdom and say “do my work for me.” Quite the contrary. Getting input is a key part of the creative process, allowing photographers to grow and better understand their images. Now with that said, I think it’s crucial to surround yourself with people that you respect and can trust to provide you with honest (yet constructive ) feedback. That doesn’t mean you need to alter your creative intention around other people’s opinions. But solid feedback can be a valuable tool to help produce even better results. Sure, feedback can be rough, but when it’s constructive and done right it can be incredible rewarding. Today I’m posting two versions of the same photo to get your feedback. Tell me which one you like best and why?
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John is an award winning landscape and travel photographer who splits his time between Chicago and Montana. His work has been featured in National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole. John loves the outdoors and traveling, and sharing his images with others.
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I have always liked BW better than color. However this is a tough choice. I think the added depth that the BW brings out is the desision maked. Definatly the BW
Hi. While I love the blue sky and yellow tipped trees I think I prefer this image in B&W. There is something about deserted buildings in vast landscapes like this that appeals to the old traditional style.
I like the B/W image better. The colored image kinda looks like any old scenic calendar picture, however the black and white contrast lends to the age of the structure.
It is like chosing from apples and oranges really both are good..but I have a pref for B&W myself…even saying that though both are stunning
Both are equally beautiful, I think artistically I like the B/W, it seems a better fit for the aging Schoolhouse. Also, in the B/W the clouds are a bit more prominent adding extra depth to the photo.
Thanks for all the feedback. Your comments have been very insightful. Keep them coming and thanks for reading the blog..;) John
Love your work! I usually prefer BW but in this case I like the color. The details of this pic get lost in the BW version. The orange really pops.
Anna
Thanks for your comments. Keep coming back..John
In this case I prefer the black and white. I think it creates a greater sense of isolation. I also think the sky works much better in the black and white version. The wispy clouds show up so beautifully on the black and white but are lost on the color version. In the color version my eyes are drawn toward the bushes and sky.
Tom,
Thanks for stopping by. I enjoyed your comments. Check out today’s blog subject. If there’s anything you would be interested in reading let me know. Thanks again, John
Hi, cool post. I have been wondering about this topic,so thanks for writing.
Glad to be of help….keep stopping by. John
Tough choice – both are beautiful. While I strongly agree with the above postings that rural decay lends itself beautifully to B/W, I really love the colors in the color shot. The rust color in the trees is repeated in the corners of the house and it gives the whole shot such a warm feeling; which is contrary to the shot, which gives it a lot of interest. To me.
Thanks for your feedback….keep stopping by.
I am quite fond of B & W photos…………having said that I prefer taking photos in B & W not changing them from color
to B & W. Changing them IMHO leaves the B & W flat looking.
So my answer to this question is I like the color shot better.
I love the black & white – especially with the balance of both the whitest white and the blackest black with the levels in between.
Wow, that’s a tough one…. normally I would pick the B&W hands down, however, I am completely torn. In the color shot, the blue of the sky, the orange in the trees and the green in the grass, is perfectly amazing and I feel the house stands out better in the color shot. The B&W on the other hand has so much contrast and the clouds in the sky show a lot better, they look painted in. I would pick at them if they were a larger image. 51/49 BW
[...] having a friend or a third party review you work can be helpful too. John blogged on the subject HERE. However, if you don’t trust your friends or family to give you honest yet tastefully [...]