Sitting in the airport in Newark, I decided to take advantage of the time before my flight back to Washington, D.C. and play with some of my images. I have always loved black-and-white photography and have tried a couple of times to convert some of my images. I never know for sure what will work, but one of my photos of Christmas decorations in Vienna, Austria seemed to be appropriate for experimentation. I know that there is some good software available if I decide to pursue that direction, but this time I opted to desaturate the image almost entirely. I like the effect, in part because of the graphic lines of the original.
Which version do you like more, black-and-white or color?
Almost black and white
Color
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I like the black&white on the star, but with the back ground, smaller lights, I like the color to help ID what they are.
I see what you mean. Perhaps the black-and-white one would be better if I cropped it tighter to eliminate some of the distractions (which are pops of color in the original). Thanks for weighing in with your thoughts.
i like the colour!!!
Thanks. The red little accents do help to make it more festive.
B&W
Colour. But I am biased. My first photos as a kid were taken in b/w so to this day it always seems like second choice unless the b/w is absolutely amazing.
I agree with you!
Personally I like a photo that shows what the eye saw, but the black and white one works.
I like the red and yellow lights so I say color as well 🙂 Nice shot Mike, hope you had a good time in Vienna!
the black and white is my favorite of the two
Thanks for your input. There seems to be a split in views, with a slight preference for the color version.
I like the black & white. You don’t see that to often now a days.