... We have this beautiful, beautiful snapshot-turned-B&W-portrait (below) of this trusting infant sweetheart tightly clutching her loving dad's chest hairs.

While editing an image to this extent (as in the B&W version) is unusual for me, I will (but only with client permission) edit to remove distracting elements. Doing so allows the focus of viewer eyes to rest easily on the most important elements of portraits. Oftentimes that evokes some sort of emotion in the viewer; that's one of my goals.

This image didn't start out as a portrait, as oftentimes happens when we quickly pull out a camera to catch a glimpse of someone/something important to us. And, thank goodness we have the ability to easily capture special moments and relationships in photographs. Also, sometimes the elements that initially seem distracting can, generations later, provide important reference details. (E.g., the building where this photograph was taken has since been demolished.)

For those times and images when there's a desire to turn a snapshot into a portrait (or even just remove a few distracting details), I'm all for it. As far as this particular image, I hung onto the original color version because it provides details that the B&W doesn't. But, the one that touches my heart the most is the B&W.