Black and White or Color

I submitted this earlier but seems to be lost, sorry if it is a repeat.
On a hike through a small Vermont town I took these two images. Looking at them in color wasn't satisfying. So I processed the RAW files as b&w. I like them better that way.
CL, Observatory 35 Summilux pre-asph, mountains 90mm Elmarit

The second one I clearly prefer in B&W but for the first one I’m not sure. Maybe if post processed differently I would also prefer it in B&W, but with this comparison I rather lean towards the colored one. I could imagine the first one works better on bigger prints where subtle differences in tonality would be better visible than on a screen.

I think it’s to do with the higher contrast in the monochrome versions.

I prefer the mono versions here, but as mentioned, some of that has to do with the increased contrast.

Yeah, what I’ve already said. The latter one works better in B&W because it has higher contrast.

But again, you don’t have to go full film noir for every B&W photo. Soft monochrome often works better on bigger prints where you can fully appreciate the subtle differences in tonality.

Yes raising the contrast in b&w worked in the photo of the mountains, but it didn't work with the color image. The photo of the observatory is a toss up, but I think a 16x22 of that would look better in monochrome. Thanks for the responses.

Those digital images could have been taken with most any camera & similar focal length lens, and have nothing to do with Leica L talk. Perhaps one of the galleries would be appropriate?

I am not sure what you sre getting at, yes they could have been taken with my Nikon D300s, but they weren't. On DP Review there was a fairly active group of Leica users that put up image threads. Here I have seen mostly Leica porn discussions. I'd rather see images. Almost any camera can take any picture, I like to use my Leicas, this was done with a CL and 2 interesting lenses (to me at least). If all you are looking for is knock your socks off images they are few and far between. If you don't want images in camera folders those folders will be boring.

I have posted a number of images taken with my Q2, but I’m not a fan of brand specific image threads and have posted them in a number of places according to their subject matter.

Personally this is OK for me, and OP clearly stated the tools used. Brand specific image threads can evolve into interesting discussions.

Just to give an example, this one could evolve into a discussion how you could get the most out of the CL RAW files to yield the best possible results for B&W conversion in post.

Nothing to do with L-talk? These were taken with a CL!

And yes, we know every photo could have been taken with basically any camera, so what.

I think the B&W images are preferable. B&W requires an eye for composition much more than color composition does. Additionally, this appears to be the appropriate place to post the thread.

Black and white better for the first photo. Colour better for the second photo.

In the first photo, black and white helps separates the building and the trees from the sky. In the second photo, black and white makes the background less distinguishable from the sky. Black and white also obscures the layers of the background landscape, making the photo feel too two-dimensional.