I am thinking about entering this portrait into a local art competition. Should I go with the Black and White? or the Color? Any additional thoughts about size would be welcomed also. 8 x 10 in a 10x13 frame? or 11 x 14? or something else.
Gorgeous portrait - I almost always choose black and white, but in this case, I love the color - the blonde highlights in his hair, the beautiful tone of the background, his eyes!
As much as I love b&w, I'd go with the color version in this case. Regarding size, given the ISO 800, I'd stay as close to 8x10 as you can get within the proper aspect ratio.
Well the vote is a landslide for color!! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! Every thought is appreciated. @kannafoot and thank you for putting that thought in my head. I was not really taking that as much into consideration as I should.
Color. First, you know me, I lean toward color, and you have such a lovely complement of colors, subtle, almost monochromatic (in the color scheme of decorating sense) but still beautiful. The background that's almost the color of the child's hair. The "leetle" bit of tee-shirt showing under the collar of this sweater that's almost the color of his eyes. The charcoal sweater anchoring the season and the quietness of his expression, and the warmth of his skin and lips over it all, not emphasized, but waiting to be noticed.
But for me, all those tones are too close together to convert to B&W. The subtle contrasts and interrelations in the color get lost and the image doesn't "pop." Isn't it nice of me to say all that AFTER you've made up your mind?
8x10 just because of his age, although the grain comments above are right on the mark and I wouldn't have thought of them. 11x14 would seem larger than life size!
It's a beautiful photo - best of luck to you in the competition!
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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! color it is. The focus is a little soft and I felt that it was a bit less noticeable in B/W but after I got looking at them I thought, maybe the color one was the better of the two. It sure seems to be the consensus here today lol. I so appreciate the help.
I think it's so overwhelmingly against the B/W because the tonal values are bunched around the gamma point in the center of the range and without tone contrast (there is some color contrast so you might also want to experiment with the grayscale mix on the B/W conversion) the face looks rather flat. B/W typically stands out when you have a wide range of tone from the black to the white. There are exceptions, of course, but not here. You might have fun with a decent editor and make it more effective in B/W. Essentially lots more contrast and a full gamut of tones.
I must join the color chorus. I usually like b/w portraits just as much, but in this case the color jumps out at me. I think it's because he's a little boy and they usually have so much spunk.
@frankhymus@ggg Thank you Frank and GGG. I did not play around much after doing the B & W conversion. I will revist it and see if I can make a go of it. I just love the way his eyes pop in the color one. If I can get that in B/W I will be happy. Well I am pretty damn happy with it anyway. lol
@acloserlookpbd Good luck! Raise the contrast, pull the black point down, the white point up and you might think to actually pull the highlights down significantly to maintain as many contours of the face as you can. Even masking out the very bright (and flat) areas of the face and selectively lowing the exposure should work OK too. if there is only one thing I might have tried when actually shooting is to achieve more contour shadows on his face. The image is rather flat there. But I know it can be difficult without assistants to hold lights and reflectors. :)
Another effect is to start with the color, put a mask on everything but the eyes and then de-saturate the color channels so that only the eyes remain with color.
If you look closely at the color.. his eyes are so lovely and green and the green sweater makes them pop!And his golden hair pops from the golden yellow background.I think it is the limited but gorgeous rich pallet that makes it work so well in color.And he is just so darn cute!
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I prefer the color as well.
But for me, all those tones are too close together to convert to B&W. The subtle contrasts and interrelations in the color get lost and the image doesn't "pop." Isn't it nice of me to say all that AFTER you've made up your mind?
8x10 just because of his age, although the grain comments above are right on the mark and I wouldn't have thought of them. 11x14 would seem larger than life size!
It's a beautiful photo - best of luck to you in the competition!
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! color it is. The focus is a little soft and I felt that it was a bit less noticeable in B/W but after I got looking at them I thought, maybe the color one was the better of the two. It sure seems to be the consensus here today lol. I so appreciate the help.
Another effect is to start with the color, put a mask on everything but the eyes and then de-saturate the color channels so that only the eyes remain with color.
@mzzhope Thank Hope!! He is amazingly precious!! @espyetta ty Mary Beth!!