mick the scrappy

kevin, waaaayyyy too sharpened for my taste; otherwise outstanding tones and compositon. if you haven't tried it, try creating a layer mask, then sharpening selectively. avoid sharpening the blurred background. i suggest typically usm settings of about 200 to 300,-0.5 to 0.8, and 0 for a shot like this. consider sharpening eyes and mouth first, then being more selective, avoid oversharpening the hair, which typically gets distorted quickly.

it looks like you went about 400-2 to 3,-0. gritty is great, but not when it dominates like this in my opinion.

Great intense portrait in B&W and I love the lines in the back, only I would crop/remove the upper left gray spot!

Thank you,

B:)liana