Black or Color? (QUICK HIGHLIGHTS)

I actually got to go out this weekend! During my 3-4 hour excursion into the city, I took about 50-60 shots, with only 10 of them serving as my favorites.

On a complete tangent, over the past few months (almost 7 months now!) that I've been running this blog, I've been trying to find a equal compromise of professionalism and inclusion. What I mean is, I've been trying to find a way to share my journey through photography with the world without turning this blog into a 2004 text-heavy photo journal. So as of today, I plan to really re-think how I present these images through both my posts, and blog itself.

Getting back to photography (and away from marketing-- which is what that is pretty much), the photos below gave me one of those great photo-feelings where you're completely unsure of how to treat the colors on a photograph because they both work so well. As a result, I put both versions in the post below (for only the images that I couldn't decide on), and I hope I can get some feedback on the "best rendition".

Click on the READ MORE text for six boards of wood and a nail

I think that while this picture wouldn't work "on-paper", the distinct boldness of his figure from the background makes the image stand out.

Does this image work better in color, or black and white?

In this, it almost feels like you're distinctively missing something. It either lingers in your mind a quaint savory manner that makes the image even better, or in an abrupt exclusion of things. Try staring at the top right.

As I was walking past the intersection, the great city-background behind them was something I couldn't resist. I would count this as the best image of the set-- well worth stopping in the street for.

I tried taking this image 5-7 times because my camera refused to release the shutter, even though my camera locked focus. By the time I was able to take a single shot, he moved from the right to this current position.

Near Union Square I believe. I was walking towards him on the street while he was sitting on top of the truck. I chose this over the color version because the city-landscape behind him were in a washed-out pastel coloring.

I almost didn't take this picture because there were so many other people doing the same on their camera phones.

Does this work better in black or white?

I actually liked the black and white one better. I feel that the colors in the original image don't add to the picture, and that the color here (or lack of), creates a different mood entirely.