Critique B & W?

[TheMaggedy]

I am very new to photography. This picture was actually taken with a Panasonic Lumix UltraZoom I had for about 2 months until I sold it and bought my Canon DSLR.

Some background: this was taken about 2 months after my niece lost her mother, and I think it totally relects in her eyes.

I'd like to know if this shot is effective in b&W and if I got the b&W even close to right. Thanks,

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3480/3782170627_3cd9c7679f_b.jpg

[charliecruise]

Looks to me a tad over exposed, but her face - as you've identified - speaks volumes. I would perhaps change the brightness / contrast of the image as that always seem to work out well for me.

I am relatively new to the DSLR world so feel free to take or leave my advice.

As is, it's still a crackin' pic in my books.

[Robert_Lay]

Way overexposed.
The histogram shows clearly that there are no pixels above value 238 (in a scale of 0 through 255), so my guess is that the reason the highlights are blown out in large areas is that it was overexposed and then the brightness was lowered in pp, thus leaving the highlights burned out and featureless. Moral of the story is that you cannot recover detail in highlights once they are hard clipped.

Have you learned how to take advantage of the Highlight Alert feature in your camera?
The Panasonic Lumix may not have such a feature, but most if not all Canons have it, and it is the most effective way to avoid problems like this.

[TheMaggedy]

Thanks for the excellent and specific feedback. I'll see if I can recover the original image for more success. I love this shot for many reasons. My niece really recalls my sister here. I'd like to make the most of it.

[charliecruise]

Have a check and see what you can do. By manipulating the current image you should be able to accomplish what you're looking for. If you don't have photo shop, try Gimp as it's an open source (free) program with similar capabilities. All the best.

[PETERSYMES]

It certainly conveys strong emotion.
For the reasons already pointed out it will never be a technically acomplished photograph but it is still a strong image and considering it's importance to you and your family a good one.
History is littered with powerful images which are not technically perfect.

It does actually have scope to improve by adjusting the tone curves and some use of the burn tool in PS, cannot comment on Gimp.
I took the liberty of a little play in PS but then deleted the results as you do not have image editing turned on.

[TheMaggedy]

Again, thank you all. Thanks especially to the last poster for working witn the image. I'm not sure how to turn image editing on?

I am familiar with Gimp (that's what I use in a very limited capacity) so I'll give it another shot.

Wish I'd had the Canon when I captured this. I'll go back to the original, captured in color, give it a go and post the results here when I can.

This is another B&W capture from the Canon. Now, we're 4 months out from the loss of my sister, but I still see it in her eyes, and I really see it in the B&W photos. How does this one look?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/3992427718_ededd0e72e_b.jpg

[ddthtlc]

Go to user cp (control panel) at top of page.
settings and options
edit profile
add information tick box image edit ok

hope this helps

[TheMaggedy]

Thanks ddthtlc. Got it!

[jetcode]

Here's a rendition of your original. I used the background (burned and dodged a bit) and 2 masked duplicate layers with multiply blending. Sepia toned. Estimated PP time about 30 minutes. If I was serious about this I would do some cosmetic work and erase the outlet behind her head.

[TheMaggedy]

jetcode, this is stunning. Absolutely stunning. There are no words so I will just saw thank you!

[Robert_Lay]

Again, thank you all. Thanks especially to the last poster for working witn the image. I'm not sure how to turn image editing on?

I am familiar with Gimp (that's what I use in a very limited capacity) so I'll give it another shot.

Wish I'd had the Canon when I captured this. I'll go back to the original, captured in color, give it a go and post the results here when I can.

This is another B&W capture from the Canon. Now, we're 4 months out from the loss of my sister, but I still see it in her eyes, and I really see it in the B&W photos. How does this one look?

What a fantastic capture!
I am a little concerned about the lighting. It looks a little flat, so probably used flash.
Congratulations on this one - the emotive aspects outweigh the lighting issues.

[griptape]

Although I always prefer to start with a color image to do a B&W conversion, I was compelled to give this one a try anyway. My take on it:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3512/4003694136_06d05752e5_o.jpg

[charliecruise]

Nice edits lads.

Your Canon image is certainly better. Watch the point of focus, however, as it appears to be on her left eye; which leaves the forefront of the image a tad blurry. For a portrait image like that you're ideally looking for the entire face to be in focus.

As far a editing software goes, you can find a host of instructional Gimp videos on YouTube. You can also play around with it and simply discard any changes you've made by not saving any of your manipulations. If you have the $, I'd opt for Photoshop as it's a more robust program.

[charliecruise]

This is my go at it using Gimp. I've taken the liberty of moving the plug point as was mentioned earlier.

I'm sure with 3 different choices now one of them will fit the bill.

[TheMaggedy]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to work with this image, and for your words of encouragement. Also for the clear, constructive criticism. You are great!

[ScottKCooper]

great depth in the face. looks like pp will help the other issues.