Alfresco Mirth

[Ptax]

Caught this joyful lady at a cafe in Montreal.

Among other critiques, I would appreciate your opinion on b & w or color.

[SkipT]

I like the color one better, more warmth and depth to the picture. What I didn't like was the lady in the back facing the other girl. She at least for me draws my eyes from the girl in front of her. I know you didn't pose it so you get what you get. Good picture anyway. Heck if we all took perfect pictures what use would it do to post them

[Photo-John]

Good eye and good timing. This is a great moment. I agree with SkipT that the woman in the background is distracting and takes away from the photo. If you haven't already cropped it a bunch, you should try cropping her out to see if it strengthens the image. I'm pretty sure it will. This is also a good lesson in why you should always be paying just as much attention to what's behind and in front of your subject. The background can make or break a photo.

[GB1]

Wow, this comparison really shows how color can add a completely different mood. The blue cast really makes it appear like a cool summer evening to me, summer because the woman in the middle ground doesn't look cold. I really appreciate the color there. But at the same time, I really like the black and white too, it allows one to focus more on the subject which is the gal in the foreground. The woman in the middle ground almost disappears here, I guess because there's no color to draw my eyes and she's relatively dark.

Anyway, can't decide. They're both good in their own rights.

btw, noticing the other comments, chalk up one vote for liking the background woman. She spices up the scene, making it seem more populated and vibrant IMHO....

G

[Ptax]

Greatly appreciate the feedback. I have mixed feelings also on the woman in the background. She is not as distracting to me in the b and w. I will try a closer crop to see how that affects the pic.

[Renée-Claude Ouellet]

It's fun to see how both images are completely different, it's hard to decide which one is nicer. I think I like the color version better because the blue light give a urban feel and, since the two main subject are wearing blue, it really give a nice tone. I like how the warmer color on the left do a frame with the wood separator, it draw the viewer eye to the main subject. I agree with GB1, the woman in the back add a little mystery and action to the scene.
It's really a nice timing, and the shot is well composed. The only thing that bug me is the guy in the left eating salad, you can't do anything about it but the picture would have been better if he were looking at another direction.

There something I would like to add since the shot was taken in Montreal. Canada have different laws than United States. Here, you cannot publish a picture of someone without his consent. So you may want to be careful about what you publish if you want to avoid problems.
There are some exceptions:
-There more than five persons in the picture
-The person isn't recognizable
-The picture was taken at a public event or on a accident scene

I know, we are boring, I'm looking forward to go to the US because I wish to take publishable street photography.

[Ptax]

That is valuable and interesting information. I greatly appreciate you sharing it with me. We loved our time in Montreal. Do you think a sidewalk cafe would be considered a "public event"?

[LeeIs]

Don't listen to them. The woman in the BG makes this shot. Without her this is just a snap shot. With her the viewer tries to interpret this shot, maybe jealousy or just being an annoying human. we've all dealt with one of those. I'm surprised anyone would tell you to crop this image. That would kill it. Reducing it to.. nothing. The woman in the BG makes it for me. as for Color or B&W. I think the colour one gives a better separation between the joyful and the miserable.

[Ptax]

I tried a crop but it does two things: 1. Removes the context. The person in the background is one of the servers for the restaurant. 2. Removes the light in the lower right corner which is the illumiation source for the subject.

Thanks for your feedback.