B/W conversion HELP!!!!!

[cherrygirl]

Working on conversions and they all just look muddy to me and I"m getting frustrated....what do you guys think? Is this too muddy?

Canon 50D
5.6
1/250
ISO 200
Fill flash used

[autofocus]

You can select the boys and bring up the levels on just them...it'll help. I always tell people that any image can be made black and white, but not all images make good black and whites. Busy images (backgrounds) like you have here fall into the latter category as far as I'm concerned

[cherrygirl]

Originally Posted by autofocus

Busy images (backgrounds) like you have here fall into the latter category as far as I'm concerned

I was afraid of that! It does look great in color...just thought I would play. But I think you have answered my question. I'll post the color version.

[cherrygirl]

Here is the color version...here's another question....several people commented that they like it except that it was off center. I purposely shot it like this...do you guys think it is awkward? I didn't want to center them but people want them centered!

[EOBeav]

To me, the awkwardness is the fact that they're not separated from their background very much. A small aperture and moving them farther away from that tree would go a long ways in helping you achieve this.

[ravncat]

There's also very little contrast between the shirts and faces, you might try adjusting the blue tones