Black and white vs color and what shadows can do

I love to play with shadows.
But I also love it when shadows start playing a vital role in a shot, it’s something I always try to achieve but sometimes you’re very lucky.

 

Just a shadow behind the model can go two ways, it can be ugly or it can be nice, I often like it when it follows the contours (shape/curves) of the model, and I don’t like it if it’s just a “black blob”. However when you start really playing with shadows you can sometimes also create something a bit more surreal and story telling, for example is the shadow “helping” Lenaa here?

Now I did like the color version, but when I converted it to BW I really loved the final result.

Adding just a bit more contrast to the image really gives the image more power and for me it just works better.