Baby pic B&W Use of

[martcol]

This is my first ever post on the critique board and in fact the first ever post of a photo! So go gentle....

Also the first ever attempt (possibly the last) of baby portrait. My, isn't that hard work. He couldn't hold his head straight, sit up or say "cheese!"

Anyway, I quite like the way it came out but the exposue was a bit off. The JPEG compression seems to make the darker eye look darker. In "real life" there is a fair bit more detail on the Dark Side.

So, what about the use of the addition of noise? Too much/too little; shouldn't bother? How about Black & White? Did I get it right. What about the crop....

http://martcol.fotopic.net/photo.php?id=1382595

Camera Model: Canon EOS 10D
Shutter speed: 1/180 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Exposure mode: Tv
Exposure compensation: -1/2
Flash: External E-TTL
Metering mode: Evaluative
ISO: 400
Lens: 28.0 to 135.0 mm
Focal length: 115.0mm
Subject distance: 1.21 m
AF mode: Manual Focus

[ajax]

Cute baby. I am a big fan of black and white, so I think that is always a good choice. I would like to see a version without the noise--just to see how it looks. My hunch is I would like it better [but, that's just my personal preference].

I like the tight crop--maybe leave a tiny bit of space between his noggin and the right margin and see how that looks?

I like the tilt--gives it more interest than a straight-up shot.

I took some toddler photos for a friend--I was a snapping fool and ended up with one that ended up on her wall [a black and white head and shoulder shot]. It's a challenge! :D

[martcol]

Here's the pic with no noise, just B&W and a slightly less tight crop:

http://martcol.fotopic.net/photo.php?id=1391294

And the original or at least, no noise:

http://martcol.fotopic.net/photo.php?id=1382595

Any further help would be great...

Oh, and I just couldn't get those pics to show in this page and think I followed the code to the letter.

Thanks

Martin

[henkbos]

Any reason why you shot in 400asa?
Think the right side is quite underexposed; too much for my taste that is. May be a reflection screen (easy to make) on the right? Also the conversion to B&W has a blue tint to it.
The 2 other pics don't show.

[martcol]

Hmmm Henkbos, Reason for 400 ISO - damn that thing, I keep forgetting! :eyes The underexposed business, I know absolutely. That was one reason for trying the B&W. It seemed to provide a way to "recover" the shot.

I think I sorted the links and would mostly like some comment on the use of the PS noise filter...

thanks

Martin