[Zig]

Hello all!
Went to Oxford the other week with Karen, this shot taken with the standard "nifty-fifty" at f.11 for best combination of sharpness and depth of field at this distance.
Though it's a city of "screaming tyres" as well as Dreaming Spires, the best bits are still the architectural ones.
As always, I shot in raw, treating the same shot in 2 ways:
For the coIour treatment I kept the saturation and contrast low, both to try for a painterly feel and to retain detail in bright midday sunlight(how wonderful digital is for this choice!); for the mono, I wanted the feel of an orange filter, so as to lighten the Bath stone and bring out stone textures.
I reckon both work in different ways...I'd be glad to hear your take or preference.
Hope you're all OK...nice to see some new budding growth as well as the fruitful hardy perennials!

[matthew]

As always, I shot in raw, treating the same shot in 2 ways:

I prefer the composition of the photo that's in monochrome without hesitation. Of the two treatments, I like them both, but again I'm leaning toward the mono. I enjoy the subtly of the colour version, but the grass is introducing a colour that doesn't match the rest of the palette. If you were looking to do a combination, I'd like a chance to see the B&W image, in colour, with the grass toned just a little lighter than it is in the monochrome treatment.

The bike's a great detail that really adds to the photo.

[Wedding Shooter]

I love them both Zig - the colour was my initial preference. But the black and white is also fantastic.

[Rabid Penguin]

I reckon the mono, although i'd increase contrast personally.

[Don Schaeffer]

I like themonochrome. Try should try for a little more contrast.

[Zig]

Many thanks!
Good point Matthew; yes, I agree now: that green is tonally a bit strong and with no complement or balance elsewhere.
I confess, there seems to be something a little awry with gamma and contrast when I move from CS2 to posting; I know a "poor workman blames his tools", yet, does anyone else have odd "shifts" that only become apparent when posting them?

[matthew]

A shift in the image may simply be the difference between aRGB and sRGB for the web, but it may be even more than that. Lightroom uses its own colour space and gamma setting that makes photos exported look different in PSE3.0 on the same computer. (and it drove me nuts until I understood more about it.)

[shuttertalk]

Both versions are wonderful, Zig. I prefer the mono version both for composition (the full doorway adds to the image for me) and for colour (looks like a olden day photograph to me).

Great job!

[alastair_hm]

I like the mono version as well.

[wulinka]

me too, i prefer the bw, for one thing because in the othor one, the patch of grass draws too much attention from the rest of the quasi monochrome picture. nice composition!

[Irma]

Both are wonderful!
I personally like a lot the green of grass... Beautiful composition and lovely work with colors.