Black and white conversion. Any good?

Comments and criticism welcome.

-Reef.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

A bit contrasty for my tastes.

I don't do portraits, but I just read today on another forum that one should not strive for maxium sharpness in a portrait.

Agree with Titus.

Lovely model though.

Thanks a lot for the comments

I will keep that in mind about the sharpness in a portrait, chauncey. Thanks for the insight

chauncey wrote in post #6437099
I don't do portraits, but I just read today on another forum that one should not strive for maxium sharpness in a portrait.

Agree with Titus.

Lovely model though.

Not sure I would agree with this. (Except the part where you agree with me....:lol. Start out with as sharp an image as you can, focusing on the eyes. After that use the DOF to give you a blur. Soft light will also help soften the appearance of the image but I like them sharp as a tack in the face area.

Titus213 wrote in post #6437965
After that use the DOF to give you a blur | I like them sharp as a tack in the face area.

I agree with the low DOF working well on portraits. At the time of the shoot I was trying to get the clouds in the background sharp as well, which is why the DOF is not low. For the BW converted image though, I cropped out everything else.

Would you say the sharpness on this image is enough in the face area?

Many thanks,
-Reef

It's a small image but looks sharp. High contrast will also give the appearance of sharpness. A softer conversion would have been more to my tastes and I'd start over again with it.

The lighting is much too flat. It is as if there is a flash or a floodlamp being used from left side of camera and slightly above, pointing directly into the face of the model. This gives flat lighting to the face and causes the deep black shadow under the chin.

Please refer to my article on lighting, here:

*************Studio Portrait Lighting**************​*
Tutorial on Studio Portrait Lighting Using Two Lights, with Emphasis on Rembrandt Lighting:
http://www.zaffora.com​/W9DMK/PortraitLightin​g.htm
or the downloadable PDF version at:
http://www.zaffora.com​/W9DMK/PortraitLightin​g.pdf

Also see this helpful reference:
http://en.wikipedia.or​g/wiki/Rembrandt_light​ing

Thank you very much Mr Lay
Will read your articles...



-Reef