Smokin'

Nicely done work!! Regards.

Excellent processing and effect.

Excellent post-processing and good b/w tones.  Bravo!

Great shot. Marvelous looking model in the prefect pose. Nice black and white processing of this one! Bravo!

good shot and bw.

nice work, well done

...greatly valued.

Great PP and silvery texture. Warm regards.

Best regards

 

PDE

Excellent portrait and treatment. Best regards.

...and texture, but HDR effect and adjustment brush "halos" are too obvious for my liking. Is anyone else on this forum actually looking at the ohotograph!?! Once one gets past the obvious appeal, these artifacts greatly shorten the longevity of the photograph. Luckily, they can be fixed!

Terry-

  You are absolutely right and I had fixed the halos after I posted this image.  Halos are definitely detractors of a god image!

 

-Lynne

...that's GOOD image not god image.  Sorry for the typo.

I think you have a great original shot, from his stature and expression to his smoking gesture to the details of the folds in his jacket and the cross around his neck. It's a portrait that utilizes a lot of things to tell his story. I don't care for the processing on this. It just feels way over-cooked to me and that seems to take away from his humanity and the very simple nature of this capture. I don't mind heavily processed work unless the processing doesn't seem to be in tune with the subject. Here, I don't see how the heaviness of the tones and the brash texture of his skin works with the overall feel of the shot. And, of course, as has been said, when the processing calls attention to itself in terms of the handiwork (artifacts, halos, sharpening lines) that adds to the disharmony. I would love to see another go at this, since as I say I think the original shot is great. In this case, I actually think dialing back the processing will yield more expressive results. There can be a boldness in subtlety if you find the right formula.

A powerful and moving image Lynn, after looking at it for several minutes I realized how much I like it but also agree with Fred regarding the PP. It's very good but might be even more gripping. Either way this is an excellent image and my comment reflects a personal taste more than anything and is of course said with all respect. Great shot and into my faves.

Best Regards, Holger

Thanks all for your suggestions on this image.  I kind of liked the gritty processing on this gritty guy.  I used the same process on another shot of him called DESPAIR which was juried in to this month's BLACK AND WHITE magazine.  I guess that's why there is chocolate and vanilla.

for me if it was totally untouched it would be an amazing shot . when you look at him without all the post processing he already seems gritty enough... sometimes less is more,, he appears more like a statue than gritty ,,,, for me anyway?

OK, Folks, go to https://lynnemassphotography.smugmug.com/NEW-WORK-1/i-LtcShM3/A

This is the image slightly cropped and otherwise untouched.  I need your opinions as I plan to enter this in competition.

i will say it does look quite stunning on my screen the bigger it gets. i think the colouring is just too grayish for me but it all dépends on what people like? its a vwry good photo and i think you have a good chance of winning with this entry ... good luck

For me, here, a 7 is VERY RIGHT!!! You show us in the right way the essence of this man!

Been working on it with all your suggestions.  How is this?

 

https://lynnemassphotography.smugmug.com/NEW-WORK-1/i-Ps3k7hR/A

I love your openness to keep trying. For me to make a fair assessment of things, could you post a decently high res version of the original file, before you converted to black and white. From what I'm seeing, I might suggest a different approach to the original conversion to black and white. Unless, of course, you took it in black and white, in which case that would limit possibilities. I do think your most recent version is a big improvement overall, especially the lightening of the background and the way he now interacts with it. It provides a lot of new energy and gives him much more presence. Though the skin is lightened, which is an improvement, IMO, it's still that grayish quality that doesn't thrill me, and that's where I think the original b/w conversion may come into play.