B&W Portrait

[suzie]

I have never really tried using black and white for portrait sytle shots before, but I was pleased with the overall look of this one (sorry if you are sick of shots of my son, but he is a great subject for me to practice on!).

http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/500/216Josh_by_Pond_B_W_Small_.jpg

What are your thoughts? Maybe the eyes have come out a little bit dark??

Suzie.

[Conk]

I don't think it's so much his eye's but his face seems a little over bright.

[pappy]

This is a lovely portrait of your beautiful son!

regards,
peter

[PJM88]

I agree with Conk. I would also like to see a closer crop.

My kids are my great models too.

[ryuwulf]

Very nice shot.
Definitely worth framing.

cheers!!

[suzie]

Thank you all for your comments. I am going to try and print this one for my parents, so appeciate your feedback.

I have tried a tighter crop but for some reason I did not like it as much (I have also changed the curves a little to darken the face)...

http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/500/216Josh_by_Pond_B_W_Small_-Cropped.jpg

Suzie.

[pappy]

Hi Suzie, Colin's suggestion to tone down the brightness of the face has improved the photo. I too, prefer the original crop.

regards,
peter

[Leighow]

SUZIE

I like the original shot.. the body lean is perfect for this fellow as it provides some flowline for the of the viewer -- in this case off the face and then off the frame. I am not sure about darkening the face as it seems to become speckled.

All that said, I would have prefered a color shot. While I know little about B & W portraits, I (rightly or wrongly) put high expectations on same.. in terms of drama, lighting, etc. Here, I do not see where B & W has provided an advantage over color (although that was not the issue that you tabled).

I'd like to see this youngster caught in some spontaneous play. Anyway, I looked over a few of my own kids photos when we started out, and there are few "portraits". We tended to shoot 5 kids at a birthday table with ice cream all over their faces ! So who am I to talk!

HOWIE

[suzie]

Thanks for your comments Howie. I find it very difficult to be objective with this sort of shot as I am so close to the subject, so I really appreciate your feedback. Here is the original colour version:

http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/500/216Josh_by_Pond_2_Small_.jpg

It is difficult to get a portrait shot of my son, he is not 3 yet and never poses for me (he does not like the camera at all), I just have to try and catch him out.

Here is an "at play" one taken around the same time (sorry about the poor image quality):

http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/500/216Josh_at_Play_Small_.jpg

Suzie.

[clos]

Suzie,

yes the color one really popped out at me!

l usually prefer tight crops but l like the non-cropped version.

Good luck on the print.

-Clos

[henkbos]

Suzie,

Both are great shots for a mom to have from her child. BUT as you can see for yourself the light on the face of the second one is superb compared to the light of the first one. This is accentuated when converted to B&W. Remember that once a highlight is blown, details are lost and you will never get them back. Sometimes underexposing a little might help.

Good luck

[clos]

henkbos wrote:
Suzie,

... the light on the face of the second one is superb compared to the light of the first one. This is accentuated when converted to B&W. Remember that once a highlight is blown, details are lost and you will never get them back. Sometimes underexposing a little might help.

Good luck

l agree I don't think they are blown out though, l think the detail is still there. Although it is safer to underexpose I have read (Luminous Landscapes) that it is better to properly expose or even slightly overexpose while still trying to avoid blow outs. The result is better signal to noise ratio. Please excuse me if l am telling you something you already now.

Best regards,
Clos

[Conk]

Suzi
IMO the colour shats are fantastic. The B&W do no justice. A bit of a soft focus and a touch of blush on his cheeks in the first photo and you have an exceptional portrait.

[Conk]

Suzi
I liked this so much that I took the time to do a few minutes on it in photoshop.
I burned in the red a touch hi on Josh's cheeks and did a quick mask to even out the red tones. Applied a softfocus and voilÃ*! He is glowing like the little angle I'm sure he is. :D
Hope you like it. :)
http://www.pbase.com/image/21238317.jpg

[suzie]

Hi Conk,

Thank you so much - that is fantastic! This is a bit beyond my PhotoShop skills, but I will give it a go. I really appreciate your time, it makes me see just how much potential there can be in some shots, if you know how to bring it out!

Suzie.

[Conk]

Suzi
This was very easy to do. I would be more than happy to send you a softfocus action for photoshop and tell you how to install it. You may already have one installed. Just take a look in your actions pallet and let me know.
Here is a very simple tutorial on the quick mask.
http://www.okongraphics.com/tutorials/portraitretouch.html

[suzie]

Hi Conk,

No, I do not have a softfocus action, could you please send this to me (sue_stagg@bigpond.com)?

Thanks also for the link to the tutorial - just want I needed!!

Suzie.