Trying Black & White 3

[pburness]

Hi,
I've been a follower of Black and White photography for many years, but never been very good at it, generally because I didn't have a darkroom and was using film

I've followed this forum for several weeks, and there are some very good B&W capable photographers on here and I'd like to ask you to provide feedback (Positive or Negative) to images I post here.

I'm interested in what you think could make the image better (not the content or composition, that's another problem to be fixed :-) ), but more the conversion itself.

I'll add this header to each image I submit.
Please feel free to provide constructive critiscism.

Thanks in Advance

Phil

Here's the third image...



It was converted using Lightroom (Develop module-->Black & White), I then opened in CS5 and added a levels layer to pull in the high lights a bit. I then added a Curves layer to boost the contrast, flattened and added a high pass filter. Finally back in Lightroom I added a post crop vignette to slightly darken the corners.

[ABERS]

Good subject, and well taken with a strong face and nice whiskers. Cropping it just above the bright button would concentrate more on the face, there's not much of interest below that.
The eyes are a bit 'dead' and could do with lightening and just a tad of sharpening to give them a bit of sparkle.

The bright section on his shirt needs toning down, and the button should be cloned out if you decide against the crop,
and the distracting background highlights over his left shoulder and above his head got rid of.

Hope that helps Phil.

[pburness]

Hi ABERS,
Thanks for the feedback - I will try and complete the changes as suggested today and post back for comparison.
As much as I looked at this photo I never noticed the button!, now you've mentioned it, it's the only thing I see!!

Phil

[ABERS]

Phil,

Don't rush it, there is no deadline for you to meet. Take your time and see if any alterations you make meet with YOUR approval, not mine or anyone else's. Go away from it for a couple of days and when you come back to it see if you still like it.

The problem with digital photography is its immediacy. Because it all happens in an instant you feel that you should continue at the same speed. I bet a pound to a pinch of salt that if you had left it for a couple of days, you would have seen the button immediately when you came back!

[pburness]

ABERS,
Great advice, I do tend to rush in and hurry things along without thinking / looking too much

I'll still have a go with your suggestions though, I've seen your work!!

Thanks
Phil

[pburness]

As I was bored and had some spare time this morning....

I've adjusted as per ABERS comments and I believe this is now a much better image. (Sorry ABERS, but couldn't wait to show it... ).

I've only opened the lights in the eyes slightly, as too much distracts and the subject has very dark mediteranean eyes anyway.

Let me know if this is an improvement...

Phil

[Eyeayen]

I like the first one, yes the button was slightly distracting but at the same time there was the open shirt and not the V that is what's left of the open shirt leads my eye down and out of the picture because it isn't closed off. Before where the shirt was portrayed more about the shot as you could see it coming together.

Great shot though !

[ABERS]

The eyes have it!

[pburness]

Originally Posted by Eyeayen

I like the first one, yes the button was slightly distracting but at the same time there was the open shirt and not the V that is what's left of the open shirt leads my eye down and out of the picture because it isn't closed off. Before where the shirt was portrayed more about the shot as you could see it coming together.

Great shot though !

Thanks for the feedback. If I get time tomorrow I'll try a shot cloning the button out. It'll be interesting to see the difference small changes have on the overall image.

Phil

[pburness]

Originally Posted by ABERS

The eyes have it!

Thanks ABERS.