B&W HDR of my uncle

[speedeep]

I'd appreciate any comments, critique, etc.
I obviously part of his face off, but I think the picture works.

[Robert_Lay]

I assume that your sequence of steps was either:
a) Start with grayscale originals taken with different exposures and merge them using HDR techniques
b) Start with color originals taken with different exposures and merge them using HDR techniques and then do a gray scale conversion.

I lean toward (b) simply because I've never done it using workflow (a), and I am curious to know your workflow. I have never used BibblePro - does that have both RAW conversion software and HDR merging software or just the latter?

According to the appearance and the histogram there is a small amount of clipping of highlights of no consequence and very little deep shadow content. I would say that it is borderline high key. It's an interesting take for a portrait, and I cannot say that the background is doing anything for you other than to create some distraction.

I think you could process the result so as to give more balance in the tonal range and perhaps more mid-tone contrast - all a matter of taste!

My most serious comment would have to be the crop. I think you could lose some of the right hand side to give the overall image a portrait format rather than the square format.

Very nice!

[KarlosDaJackal]

I think the only clipping going on is the reflection on that balloon in the background. I did notice a lot of noise in the background.

Why not do a quick mask of the background, heavy noise reduction on it, and then a blur on it also so its less distracting.

[Picture North Carolina]

As far as the crop goes, I think it works just as is. The balloons are an integral part of the composition. For example, that blown highlight in the one balloon is like a catchlight and IMHO, adds to the composition. However, I do agree with the noise comment. Lots of noise in that area between the two upper-right balloons. I would dupe the layer, reduce noise on dupe, create mask, limit noise reduction to those areas. But don't remove too much. The grainy appearance of the image, including his face, and texture is part of why the image works.

You might consider removing that one black dot on his forehead. I don't think that adds anything, it seems too dark to be an age spot, and IMO distracts a little.