[Eruditass]

This is my second attempt at B&W photos (the first ones I have somewhere and probably could use some C&C as well). I had some lesser interesting shots of a pyramid in Mexico that I attempted to make more interesting:





I experimented cropping and rotating both but couldn't come up with something I really liked, so these are un-cropped and un-rotated.

Also, one of my beautiful girlfriend:


I wanted to straighten it but then I lost the interesting hair detail on the left - but did lose the sunglasses which look out of place. Also un-cropped/un-rotated for C&C.

I also tried adding a bit of sepia but I feel like pure B&W suits these better? Have not experimented with other tones.

[sealisthenewbeaver]

How much have you done sharpening? Cause the shots look somehow unnaturally sharp to mee.

Also, are the pyramidshots originally HDR?

Anyway, the tones look really nice and rich and it's imo a good conversion, though the sky looks a bit weird. But that might be the hdr-effect.

I don't really like the last shot, cause I don't really see anything but black or white and nothing really between.

[Eruditass]

All are actually 1-shot JPEG exposures on my late P&S (I was impressed with the quality when I revisited these), I just did greyscale mixing to darken the sky but can certainly undo it a bit.

I didn't do any sharpening other than "standard screen sharpening" from lightroom, although webshots may have added some for their thumbnails. i did however use a lot of fill light, which may have created the over-sharpened look.

Any suggestions for the last one? Since it's JPEG, I can't really save the shadows too well.

Thanks for the feedback!

[messthetics]

I'm finding the clarity/sharpening a little jarring myself too. That's just me though and if that's the look you like, it's something that you can certainly develop. A little softness would make these shots a bit more subtle though.

I also prefer the angle on your first architecture shot to the second.

I dig the third shot! Interesting angle and expression.

[Eruditass]

Ah yes, I believe I played with the clarity a bit, I will dial that down and also the screen sharpening and see how it looks. It didn't look as sharp on my large monitor, but after uploading resized images, I can definitely see where you guys are coming from.

Thanks!

[Eruditass]

I toned down the clarity considerably and also cropped one to try to make it more interesting:

[sealisthenewbeaver]

Much better, though still somehow unreal.

But as I said earlier, well done with the conversion.

[cbaytan]

Too much HDR'ish contrast on the walls, I didn't like it, too harsh to my eyes..

Last photo: Not beveled, right side is burned, building and floor stones are almost vanished, ghosty,. I would make right part more contrasty hence visible.

Otherwise concepts are ok, good work.

[Eruditass]

Thanks for your input, did you look at the ones I edited later on (post #6) as well?

#3 straightened, tried to recover the right side:

[Ash]

This is very good B&W work done here.
Although the capture of your gf is not a clear fave of mine, the PP work and detail rendered is excellent.
Well done.

[Eruditass]

Thank you! which versions do you like the best?

[Zewrak]

I would like to see the originals to judge.

[Eruditass]

Originals:

[wallyb]

I like the first two just the way they were...

[FHPhotographer]

I am a fan of B&W, but sometimes the color original works better, and the third shot is much better in color than converted. Can you pull a bit more detail from the side of her face generally and the eye in particular?
Brian