Elise in B&W

[slsphotos]

This is my first post in a critique section, & also my first 'real' attempt at converting to b&w. I'm not sure how I did with the conversion, if there's enough 'pop' to the photo, or what could be done to make the b&w better. This was just a 'playing around' snapshot I took that I thought would look nice in b&w, so I gave it a go!



Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 45 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

To convert, I used PS Elements 7, layered, removed color, and played around with different levels & such.

Thanks for any comments/tips!

[slsphotos]

OK, here's a different question (tho my above search for advice still stands): is her face too bright? I think it makes her face seem soft & smooth, but my hubby thinks it's too much. Honestly, is it too much and/or too bright?

[jax314]

Beautiful girl! Her face is definitely bright...I am wondering if I would have liked the color version of this better....can you post that one? Or did you just want critique on the B&W?

[natek313]

Yeah, the face is too bright, in my opinion. When you do your black and white conversion, play with the different color channels to see if you can darken her skin tone slightly.

[slsphotos]

Originally Posted by jax314

Beautiful girl! Her face is definitely bright...I am wondering if I would have liked the color version of this better....can you post that one? Or did you just want critique on the B&W?

Thanks! I did add the color version in flickr along with other tries with the b&w (feel free to comment about that as well), but yes, I'm mainly wanting to hear about how to make the b&w better. It wasn't a set up shot, my daughter was rolling around on the floor in the sun rays shining thru the window, so I just snapped a few pics & thought they'd be good to practice b&w with.

Originally Posted by natek313

Yeah, the face is too bright, in my opinion. When you do your black and white conversion, play with the different color channels to see if you can darken her skin tone slightly.

Thank you! I added a few different b&w tones on flickr if you'd like to see those... hoping there's one that looks right. I'm just not wanting to cross the line & make her look 'muddy.'

Here's a link to the set if anyone would like to see more. I really appreciate any advice!

[irishmuth]

From your Flickr page, I like "IMG_4547editbw2" the best. I do think the one posted above is too bright.

[slsphotos]

Originally Posted by irishmuth

From your Flickr page, I like "IMG_4547editbw2" the best. I do think the one posted above is too bright.

Thank you for looking! Do you like that image as is, or just as the 'lesser of the evils?' And if it's the latter, what else should I be doing?

Again, I really value & appreciate any tips/advice/comments. Thanks!

[irishmuth]

I like that particular conversions as-is. If you're looking for good tutorials on B&W conversions, Benji posted on in the tutorials form here. In addition, I found a really good free action that does a B&W conversion with a final "chocolate" filter added and I like those results a lot, too - same effect as B&W but a bit softer without being traditional sepia. I ran your color image through these two process and the results are below.

[slsphotos]

Originally Posted by irishmuth

I like that particular conversions as-is. If you're looking for good tutorials on B&W conversions, Benji posted on in the tutorials form here. In addition, I found a really good free action that does a B&W conversion with a final "chocolate" filter added and I like those results a lot, too - same effect as B&W but a bit softer without being traditional sepia. I ran your color image through these two process and the results are below.

Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to share the info & show the results! I do like them & will be reading the tutorial & continue to practice! Thanks so much!!

[irishmuth]

No problem...I can't take any credit, though...I just used other people's tools : )