# Color or monochrome? Boston skyline



## rocdoc (Sep 8, 2011)

Which one do you guys think looks better?












Thanks!


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## PhotographyByLexy (Sep 8, 2011)

The 2nd one!


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## manaheim (Sep 8, 2011)

I was gonna say "always color", but the b/w one is awesome.

btw, search for my name and "night photography" for some tips.

And "hello fellow bostonian!"


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## Theantiquetiger (Sep 8, 2011)

I love BW photos over color any day, but I like the color one above.  It shows life of the city.


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## pixilstudio (Sep 8, 2011)

color adds depth


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## rocdoc (Sep 9, 2011)

Thanks everyone, 
 You can see why I was torn. I often find I prefer bw as well, but here the addition of the color makes for such a different image I was just not sure. Well, now I have to keep both  
 Thanks for looking and taking the time to reply.
 Manaheim, that's former fellow Bostonian, but it's always in my heart. Red Sox forever! 
Cheers


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## Forkie (Sep 9, 2011)

Black and white!!

Just a whacky idea, (I don't do whacky that often) try inverting it and getting those clouds really dark.  It'd look great on a large white canvas in a white room.


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## manaheim (Sep 9, 2011)

rocdoc said:


> Thanks everyone,
> You can see why I was torn. I often find I prefer bw as well, but here the addition of the color makes for such a different image I was just not sure. Well, now I have to keep both
> Thanks for looking and taking the time to reply.
> Manaheim, that's former fellow Bostonian, but it's always in my heart. Red Sox forever!
> Cheers



hehehe... come back to Boston! 

Back to the picture... interestingly, I think as a color picture this one is pretty much a failure, but as a black and white it is a win.  That may sound a little harsh, but let me explain...

Night time imagery of skylines are almost always color, so when you are in a color mode your images are compared and contrasted to other "skylines".  Skylines are all about light, different colors, dramatic effects, etc.  Yours lacks a lot of the impact in those areas because (frankly) your technical execution and composition are a little off.  (this is why I suggested you go look me up for tips)

For example, compare your image of Boston to one of mine...






I'm not saying mine is godlike or anything, but how does yours hold up when compared to mine as a color image?

HOWEVER... when you turn your image into a b/w, suddenly we don't look at it through the typical skyline filter... now our view is reset, and we start looking at it differently, and to MY eye it becomes not so much a skyline as a fairly dramatic piece of art... that just happens to be a piece of a Boston skyline... and in that respect, I believe your image pretty much stands out well above and beyond any skyline... because, frankly, skylines are kinda boring and "photographic cheating".  (It's not that hard, compositionally, to go "oh hey!  a skyline!", so I call it cheating.)


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## Forkie (Sep 9, 2011)

I'd also like to add that having seen Manaheim's shot, you should take some inspiration and crop a load of your sky off Rocdoc, and make it a panorama (in B&W).


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## Stanza (Sep 9, 2011)

It is a hard decision but  I will go for the colour one... Yes, it's because the black and white even if its kind of more interesting, it has a very "gothic" atmosphere and the colour one it simply vivid and REAL. The colours are beautiful and never let the "interesting" message out.


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## rocdoc (Sep 9, 2011)

Thanks everyone again. Manaheim, yes your comments are harsh but appropriate, I am happy when someone chooses that route rather than being insincerely kind (which is patronizing in my view).
To clarify, neither of the images was ever meant to be shown as competing with shots like yours, or any other good shots. They are snapshots in my view. I don't agree with the bw one being that good either, just a fun and borderline acceptable shot. 
Regarding technique: well, yeah...  This was shot with the camera on a balcony railing, lens resting on a finger. My tripod was locked in my car across town. Next night I did bring the tripod up, but they had decided to keep the lights on at Fenway into the night, long after the game for some reason. That blew out everything, they were glaring and covering everything in the rest of the skyline (Fenway is exactly between the viewpoint and the buildings you see). I think they were trying to burn away the sorrow of a loss to they-who-shall-not-be-named... (any Sox fan, and probably anyone remotely aware of baseball at all knows whom I speak of) 
I don't know about cutting the sky out. The skyline was actually framed in the middle, and I decided to keep the sky and crop off the foreground to place it in a pleasant arrangement. I see your point though.
Cheers


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