Rose in B&W – does it make sense?

[AB26]

A conversion from colour.

Does it make sense? Do you see any value in this image? Can you see it hanging on a wall? Is the B&W any good?
Please help! I am no longer objective about my own images and need objective critique from others.
If it is any good, please tell me why. If it is no good please tell me why. Please be honest!

You won't hurt my feelings if you say it is no good.



The edit to show more stem.

[Donald]

I've just commented about an another image in another thread and said how beautifully lit it was. The same can be said about the flower in this image. And I think the contrast created by setting is against that black background works extremely well. There are good bold, strong tones in that top part of the image.

I'm not sure that the bottom half of the image supports the strength of the top half. I've been trying to work out why I think this and it seems to be coming down, for me to the fact that the stalk/stem of the plant is almost lost in that middle section between the flower and the leaves and then, in the lower section is in total silhouette. For me, that's making it a picture of two halves. The the stalk/stem had some detail in it, it would 'connect' the top and bottom of the image.

I'm sure that this is what it is. Because if you isolate the bottom half of the image and just look at that, the lighting on those leaves is also lovely. But the two parts are just not held together, for me.

That, of course, is only one opinion. Others may disagree.

[AB26]

Donald, you are so right.
Look at it in the lightbox and you will see a bit of stem. I did the unthinkable and cloned a stem into the image to connect the two halves. It is not only your opinion, I agree with you.

Thank you Donald.

[allenlennon]

Andre, i love the light in this and i agree with Donald on this. As it is the leaves below fights for my attention. To me, i think if you crop to just above where the front leaf conncts and perhaps if you increase the backlight part of the stem would make this shot for me. And like donald, that is my opinion in this.

[adamr]

I believe you wanted opinions on the B&W as compared to color. Well, though I usually prefer color I find this image to have its strength in B&W. It strengthen the shape of it and the shape of the droplets, which might have lost some of it in the color.
As for the leaves, I also feel that they are competing with the main subject, which is of course the flower itself. The editing you made on the stem seems fine to me, but the leaves still stick out too much for my taste. I thought of cropping them out, as already suggested, but it would have made the frame too square in shape and the flower too much in the middle, so what I would have tried is to darken the leaves considerably in editing, so that only a hint of them will show. This way you "justify" the format of the exististing frame but still avoid distraction of the eye to the less appealing leaves.

[bingham2259]

Although I am a novice at photography and don't feel qualified to give constructive critique, I would like to say I find this picture absolutely beautiful. The fact it is in black and white makes it no less interesting, in fact, just the opposite. Wonderful, and I can't even remember when I last used that word!

[flashback]

Andre,
I think Donald and Adam have summed it up nicely.
As for it being B&W, I think maybe you're answering your own question from your post "The significance of B&W photography." Is the rose pink, red, yellow, white? If it were in color (IMO) then it becomes about color, which if it were an unusual color would be fine. But by rendering it in B&W it instead becomes about shape, shadow and contrast, making one look at the rose in those terms rather than color.
As for seeing your (or a similar) image hanging on a wall; absolutely.

[dje]

Andre I think it works well in B&W because it allows us to concentrate on the delicate shapes of the petals, the water drops and the light and shadow. If it were colour, we would be concentrating more on the particular colour of the rose. This woud be nice too but in a different way.

Well done

Dave

[Mike Buckley]

The concept absolutely works for me. Making the improvement already discussed will make it even more enjoyable.