BW Portrait

I'm working on a technique I've seen often, which is the white out

background and the focus on the subjects. I think these should be

done in BW, but I'm looking for feedback, please.

The flattened aspect gives it more the feeling of a pencil drawing or a lithograph. I think it works very well here

Thanks for your comment, Jack.

The white background certainly accentuates the main subjects as the focus points, possibly just pushing it to the edge of losing some detail in the hair of the central girl, but overall it really does work. I think it works even better if I view it about 3ft from the screen but couldn't tell you why that is, although I suspect it might be because the light looks less harsh from that distance.

Well done Liz.

Best Regards

Alf

Thank you, Alf, for your comment. I think you got what I'm trying to accomplish.

A really lovely shot, Liz!

looks like pen and ink

Thank you, Ruud and Meir, for stopping by to comment.

Hi dear Liz,

You shared a nice b&w portrait with fine pose,with us!

Nice capture and you full your frame very well.

Take care.

Best regards(Bobby).

Groups are always tricky , but I think you've handled it well . If I may , I'll make a suggestion that you might like to try . Add a layer below the image filled with white . Add a mask to the image layer and brush with black at a low opacity to reveal the white . Bill

Great idea, Bill. I'm going to work on that.

Very pleasant image for a very pleasant trio, my dear fiend!

Very simple, very kind and very nice portrait! With respect, Valentyn

A beautifully composed image with a very good tonality - very nice capture of a delightful moment. Best regards.

Liz: I like the composition, but find the image a little overexposed. Did a levels adjustment, shifted the midpoint to the right.  Tom

I like the high key of the original but I do prefer Tom's version.

This is a lovely portrait, these three young women are engaging the camera and you have successfully captured this as their eyes and expressions are truly the focus this images.  Concerning the background, white tends to draw the viewers attention but in this case your subjects are not in any danger of losing the viewers attention.  I like Tom's suggestion for slightly reducing the exposure of your subjects.

Very nicely done!

Jim

Hi, Liz.  I love the effect.  As for the question of exposure, one would have to know the skin and hair coloring of the subjects to assess that, I believe.

They are lovely, in any case.

--Lannie

Life from every pore...Compliments Liz!

Thank you all for your comments. I have to say I played with the exposure A LOT. I kept going back and forth, and I decided to leave it as I did because I wanted to keep the softness. However, I agree that Tom's version is great, it just wasn't what I wanted in the long run.

Liz:  When we view any photo, we all put our own prespective on what the result should be.  You and I just had a different view today, one's not better than the other just different.  Tom

Liz... I thought I'd already commented on this shot, but find that I didn't; sigh... the hazards of old age ;-).  I think you've captured this well, with slight exposure differences open to artistic interpretation.  What I really like are the smiles and eyes, they speak to the viewer and evoke a smile in return.  Are they sisters?  Surely they are at least relatives since the eyes are all so similar.... Mike

Beautiful portarait, Liz.  I like the softness that you achieve here without losing any sharpness.  The eyes on all three young women are tack sharp and the smiles and expressions are great - you must have taken more than a few to come up with this shot.  Alf and Tom Wiggins both got their points across.  I agree with both.  The answer of whether to deepen the contrast is in the affect you are seeking.  Great shot.  Thanks again for commenting on my dog image. I am glad I discovered your portfolio and look forward to continued communication.

Again, many thanks for all the comments. They were just what I was hoping for.