Ok, well I couldn't resist...I love playing in post-processing.
Here's a black background...did it really fast, using the clone tool.
ELAY, you took the words right out of my mouth: "I think that because of the textures in the skin, this would make a great black and white shot." As you were typing your post, I was doing a quick conversion. Desaturated, did some curves adjustments to increase contrast, did an unsharp mask (radius 75), added a pinch of red, adjusted histogram midtones (-10 or so). Here's what I came up with (I did this fast):
Lori, again, fantastic! Thanks for letting me play...
