I really like the colour one better. The Yellow of the village really stands out a lot more - adds a dynamic touch to a beautiful picture.

The photos seem to have come right out of The Polar Express! Brilliant :)

color

My preference is definitely for the color version. The yellow stands out really nicely against the white snow and dark blue sky, and the yellow light coming from the windows is really inviting. The black and white version, on the other hand, looks sort of artificial to me.

i prefer the colour. and your photography makes me smile everyday

The black and white has an infra red feel, hense I prefer the color. Would a different process for conversion make a better picture?

Well, seems a little redudant, but I prefer the color. The yellow is just great, and trees are already black and white so you aren't missing anything.

This is really beautiful. I think both the photos have their pros. The color one really brings out the yellow color on the house. But the snow looks better on the B&W one and the light is pretty good on it to.

DEFINITELY color shot on this one.

Colour for sure. It looks a lil fake. do i sense a bit of photoshop or is it just a sweet photo?

Color. It looks 'realistically fake' if that makes any sense. Great job.

Great photo! Too bad Blue Mountain is fully booked for New Year's...

haven't got anything new to say - color. :)
b&w lacks contrast imho
anyway, keep up the good work :)

Awesome! looks like a miniature set for a movie...it looks so perfect. well done

The picture which you have in your site is STUNT.
it is a short time that i am visiting your site, but all of them are fantastic and beautiful , espiciall these recent pictures related to christmass.
i like to send message for you , but my english is not good (very bad). if i WRITE farsi,
can you understand and answer me?

The B&W one. Looks surreal to me. Great shot.

i love the b/w version :-)

Color

The trees become more a part of the image with the b&w but the contrast of the blue sky with the yellow hotel is hard to give up. Colour for sure.

I agree, the color one is better in this case. A very nice image!

The B&W one is much better, it has a more sophisticated look, reminds me of something I would see at my Grandma's house. The illumination of the trees at the bottom makes the picture excellent. Definitely a better shot. It also looks like a model christmas town that you would have on a mantle or something. Nice work indeed.

The colour version is way better - there so much life to it.

Definitely colour. It's much more beautiful when you can see the colour of the houses and the dark blue of the sky.

i prefer the b&w version, but then again when you look at the b&w you see the trees, and on the color ver you see the houses. anyway, both are nice.

I prefer the first shot.

I like the colour one better. The houses and everything seem like a set or something for a movie.

I always thought that black and white photos makes them look better, but this is not that case at all.
Color is incredible, B&W lookks a little creepy for me.

The color version. Really beautiful.

The color version. really beautiful.

Black and white! I can't believe so many people went for color! The building is so much more alive when you can see every tiny variation in shade in the b/w image--and you only get that effect once you can't see and stop thinking about the color.

Amazing in either version, but my preference is for the color. As noted it looks magical.

Both have aspects that I like, but since there is precious little colour in the winter I'm going for the colour one. Besides, the ski hill certainly couldn't be called a mountain, and with out the colour, it couldn't even be called blue! There are no mountains in Canada east of Alberta.

Color, no contest.

i definitely like the black and white one much better, i can see the details better

Once again, I was left breathless. My preference is for the colour photo. For sure! Absolutely beautiful, Sam!

Both amazing. They look so crisp. Almost like they have come from a console/PC game or something, or as someone else said, a miniture village

Wow!!! At first I thought this was a miniature toy village, not REAL. You're amazing. I like the colored one best.

I learned to ski there. Great place. I prefer the colour shot. A lot more visually interesting against the b&w snow/trees.

Just wondering though, what program you use to remove the noise. I guess this shot would probably be okay with the long exposure time, but some of your other high speed iso shots look really clean. Or is part of that come from owning an SLR? I guess I'll have to save some pennies and pick up one for myself to find out first hand. :)

In a rare turn of events, I'll pick the colour one over black & white this time.

Sam, offer the shots to the hotel owners, I bet the next time around you would be staying there for free ;-)

I like the color one. The mustard yellow, green colors of the building look magical in this light.

black & and white, hands down!

COLOR is best. The other looks like a photo negative (until you compare the two).

Both are beautiful, though I really like the black and white one. It's very amazing.

i like the color-shot better. but they´re both great!

definetly color!

You've made it look like a miniature model village, it's a very strange effect - nice one. And it's definately all about colour here, the b&w looks a little flat - maybe you could play around with the contrast a little more?

I agree with most people--the color pic is just great. The yellow really pops well. The buildings look nice in the black and white shot, but the lights on the trees seem a little garish, I think. Don't get me wrong, great shot! ^_^

as the only person in the comments page that matters :P, this is the post to read.

Color all the way.
..
moscon

hey sam. it turns out we work in the same building complex! small world.

anyway, I prefer the colour version, however the hill is a little washed out by the flare, thus the hill in the BW version looks better to me.

what's weird about this shot in general is the hotel looks superimposed onto the landscape. i realize that the hill is a fair distance back from hotel but knowing that doesn't trick my brain into making this shot look natural. odd...

-s

holy shit. that's awesome. (I like the coloured one better)

I like the color one better too. I don't like the contrast and the flatness of the B&W. It just doesn't look realistic to me for some reason.

Color. Looks like an illustration from a children's christmas book.

I usually prefer BW but this shot definitely looks better in colour. The colour adds a very nice warmth and dimension to the shot.

keep up the good work.

colour one. most definately!!! what a great shot!

Colour is spectacular. You are gifted.

b&w

" Oh we are the munchkin's... from munchkin land... from munchkinland."

The colour one is much much better. It comes to life so well. The colours and shades look so amazing.

I am expecting to see a house drop out of the sky and lang upon the wicked witch. After which many little elves would come running out of those houses to see.

Colour, without a doubt :-)

Can't stop going back and look the colour version again. That's beautiful.

WOW! I can see why you had a hard time deciding between the color and b/w. I have to go wtih color because it's just so crisp and rich.

it took me about 30 seconds to figure out it was a photo of a real place. i thought it was one of those little ceramic villages set up in holiday stores. color definitely.

YOU CALL THIS A MOUNTAIN :) :)

from Vancouver

I think the color photo is the stronger photo. I agree with the above comments calling the B&W photo "flat." The color image better utilizes depth and warmth. Nice.

Definitely the color. Also can you give me the wallpaper version of the picture. I really like it. Thanks.

The color one is my favorite and it may be my favorite of the year. It puts me a Christmas frame of mind. Thanks for posting it.

i'm with faro... i'm also (originally) from vancouver.

the colour is amazing.

by the way, intrawest (the company who owns blue mountain - and whistler incidentally) spend a LOT of money making their resorts look just like movie sets.

great photo, as ALWAYS sam!
-heather

The first one is the best. The light is very strange, surrealist...

BxW!! I does remind me of infra-red, but also of stills from vintage movies done on gel film...

kinda redundant to say it, but you're rather brilliant!

Uh .... either one ... fantastic images.... outstanding.... surreal -- animated -- sharp -- serene -- just damned lovely...

You know you have a good photo when well over 60 posts have been posted. I think this really is one of your best photos and Do I detect a winner for most visited photo of the year??? I think we might have a winner here.

Happy holidays all... Have a beautifully image filled holiday season.

Best wish to you Sam

I have fond, fond memories of Blue Mountain. Thanks for this pic.

the colour one is so dreamlike, the B&W one is beautiful too, its like an angles view comparing to the colour when the angle gives up his two dimentional view to see the world with all its joys(;

Definitely the colour photograph... it makes me want to leave for Blue Mountain right now (something like a 3 hour drive from here).

Both version are fantastic! I am so glad you decided to post both of them! Congratulations yours photos are just amazing!

Cant stop posting... must comment... photo is too magnificent to resist... Must say it is good one more time....

Normally my preference would be for the black and white, but in this instance I like the colour better. The slightly blown highlights seem more intrusive in the mono version.

The black and white looks professional while the colour one looks warmer and lively. Tks for nice photos.

From looking at this black and white on on the web, it seems to be lacking any true black. You have the pure white, in a few places, but the black isn't really there. Darken the trees some more, or burn in the sky a little :)

nice site, I wonder if I've bumped into you while out taking images of my own.

I have to go with the b/w version

you liked the colour one better.

Looks like a Thomas Kinkade painting, great shot!

Colour! It looks like a minature world!.. I love it!... the black and white looks a little too busy to really be captivating.

definetely black and white, more classic looking, the other one looks to candyish

try shooting the black and white 1 F stop over, that is for example F 8 to f 5.6. And under develope the film. David C.

black and white!!! the color has a great contast with the sky and the houses but the balck and white has the mystacal feel! i love it

the answer to your question is Yes!

I think the Black and White photo looks better ;)
It's like it has it's own story - cold but full of light :)

Another google seach on something and another great photo of it provided by Sam!
I love the colour version better, theyre so warm in contrast to the snowwy suroundings.