Working on B&W Processing

Dancer72

I reprocessed #1 to try and lose the muddy look as well as some of the noise on her forehead. Here's the outcome...I left the original version for comparison. C&C welcome. Thanks for looking!

1. Original Version:


1. Updated Version



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Original Post

We've had some clients express interest in b&w prints, so I've been working on my PP in that arena...want to make sure I avoid them being muddy. Here are some samples of what I've done. C&C most welcome.

Thanks for looking!
Caroline


2.


3.

Darren Troy C

In respect to the conversions only.....the 2nd and 3rd seem fine. #1 seems underexposed and pretty noisy so your B&W amplifies this.

Scott_Quier

with respect to 2 and 3. They are looking pretty good.

#1 - don't agree with the above with respece to the noise. I don't think that will have any negative impact on the photo. However, I don't see anything except the catchlights in the baby's eyes that come close to being white - I think you need to boost either the exposure or brightness of this shot a bit while maintaining your blackpoint.

Dancer72

Darren Troy C wrote:

In respect to the conversions only.....the 2nd and 3rd seem fine. #1 seems underexposed and pretty noisy so your B&W amplifies this.

Darren:

Thanks for taking the time to look & comment. I'll go back in and look at #1 again...I've been looking at a smaller resolution than the one I posted, so I may have missed the noise, etc. Will post an updated version once I revisit.

Thanks again for checking out the shots.
Caroline

Dancer72

Scott_Quier wrote:

with respect to 2 and 3. They are looking pretty good.

#1 - don't agree with the above with respece to the noise. I don't think that will have any negative impact on the photo. However, I don't see anything except the catchlights in the baby's eyes that come close to being white - I think you need to boost either the exposure or brightness of this shot a bit while maintaining your blackpoint.

Scott:

After taking another look, I agree that the photo is lacking whites...what I thought appeared white, now looks more gray. Thanks for the suggestions on how to adjust the levels; I'll post an updated version in a bit, if you wouldn't mind checking back for comparison.

Thanks so much for taking the time to look & comment.
Caroline

Dancer72

Updated version of shot #1 posted for comparison to the original.

adbsgicom

Much nicer!! 3 keepers.

Scott_Quier

Dancer72 wrote:

Updated version of shot #1 posted for comparison to the original.

- Much nicer but, maybe, a bit too far in the other direction? The contrast just seems a bit harsh to me for a baby picture.

Dancer72

adbsgicom wrote:

Much nicer!! 3 keepers.

Thanks for the kind words Andrew, and thanks for taking the time to look & comment!

Dancer72

Scott_Quier wrote:

- Much nicer but, maybe, a bit too far in the other direction? The contrast just seems a bit harsh to me for a baby picture.

- maybe, as they say..."3rd time's the charm". I'll go back in & make some more tweaks and see if I can soften her up to achieve the the baby feel again.

Thanks for taking the time to check back Scott. I really appreciate it!
Caroline

Scott_Quier

Dancer72 wrote:

- maybe, as they say..."3rd time's the charm". I'll go back in & make some more tweaks and see if I can soften her up to achieve the the baby feel again.

Thanks for taking the time to check back Scott. I really appreciate it!
Caroline

Ummm .... it's really not important what I or anyone else thinks of your photo (unless you are working for a client). What's most important is whether you like the image. Please, please don't mistake my idiot ramblings for something that approximates an expert opinion.