Both images are pretty muddy as far as BW conversion goes. Were these shot in BW mode or converted in post production? If the former, don't do it that way unless you don't HAVE an image editor to work with. If that's the case, you need one anyway now that you're moving up to the Rebel, so get one. I think PS Elements comes with the Rebel, and that will do you nicely for starters. Read the mentorship thread on BW for some guideliens on effective BW conversions.
Compositionally, the Alabama Theater shot is very awkward with its perfect bisection of the image into sky and building. It might work if it were an interesting sky, but as it is with the sky all blown near-white, it's just not an effective element in the image. Also, the slight cropping-off of the bottom of the sign seems rather arbitrary.
The barbershop image is more compelling visually, but one wonders at the inclusion of so much excess at the top combined with the relatively tight cropping in the foreground. Also, the area on the left has considerable potential visual interest but is given short shrift in this image. The guy in the right foreground is oddly out-of-place int he sense that he isn't doign anything, nor is anythign being done to him; it seems that a barber actually working on him would be a good idea. Where the brabers ARE working, they are just sort of an amorphous mass with their customers, there's no real interest there. So the overall impression of this shot is "snapshottish" rather than "composed". but there's alot of promise in the scene regardless.
Robt.
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