A B&W boy

[iposiniditos]

Hello my friends,

here is the son of a friend of mine.

D70s + Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.4 Planar T* ZF

Your comments and suggestions are always much appreciated!

Thanks a lot,
theodoros

[Nnnnsic]

I don't think the composition is all that great.

While I'm not bothered at all by a close crop on the face nor am I bothered that you've done it in landscape format, I think you've killed it by cropping before the end of the lips.

You should've given a bit more room at the bottom like you did at the top with the forehead and fringe.

Also, as far as a black & white conversion goes, you've lost so much detail in the background blacks... whilst I know your DOF isn't going to hold much there, it still would be nice to have something other than constant black in this image.

[blacknstormy]

Theodoros -
I agree with Leigh, and the conversion is almost too heavy handed.
Childrens eyes always sparkle with life (and mischief) and this has been lost in the dull black that has resulted from the conversion. The missing lip really bugs me, but there isn't anything I can do about that, but I did brighten up his face, and his eyes



If you would like this version removed, I'll do so immediately, but this is an example of what you could do with this shot. I lightened the skin a little, and brought out the highlights and detail in the eye using the dodge tool ....

Hope I haven't offended, and if so, Mods please remove

Hugs
rel

[Mr Darcy]

I prefer the original.
There is a moodiness to the piece that is lost in the revised version. The loss of detail in the background is a small price to pay.

I would like to see the lip in though

Greg

[macka]

I agree with the others about the lip.

The extreme black of the background doesn't bother me, but the black eyes do. I like Rel's revision in this case.

Not a bad shot, though.

Cheers

[obzelite]

yeah, the lip is a issue for me as well.

but i don't mind the darkness of the whole thing.
second shot i think the eyes are just too bright for the whole image.

[iposiniditos]

Big true about the lips. Too bad that the lips croped in this shot.

Your suggestions about the blacks are very good. It's true that i have lost the detail/highlights in the eyes to achieve the black background. Thank you very much guys for this.

Special thanks to blacknstormy for the highlighted eyes version. I personally prefer it. Big thanks for your time and ofcourse there is no problem posting this.

Much appreciated guys. Thanks a lot,
theodoros

[Matt. K]

theodoros
This image has enormous power because of its composition. If you can picture a very large print (2 x 3 metres or so) of this image hanging in a gallery it would demand attention! Trust your gut feeling with this image because I think you got it right!

[mattyjacobs]

It's definately one of those 'eyes follow you around the room' shots, isn't it ...

[Geoff]

Theo - what Matt said!!
I can certainly see what the other constructive criticism is about, with the lip and all, but as Matt said, imagine this as a massive canvas print! Eerily beautiful. Keep it up!!

[Nikkofan]

Hi Theodoros

I'm no critic, but I'm glad Matt said "trust your gut feeling" because when I saw this, my gut feeling was "wow!" To me, it has a lovely "old time photography" feel and I think it's great!

I also would have liked to see the lip, but I really really like this shot anyway, especially after Rel's fixup, probably because I am a BIG fan of the very tight shot, irrespective of anything else, like the shades of black, etc.

I'd love to see more tight shots like this - please post some more!

[the foto fanatic]

To me, saying "the bottom lip is missing" is like saying "the ears are out of focus".

To which I reply "And your point is?"

[iposiniditos]

Thank you so much for your kind words and your suggestions.
You push me to try harder!

theodoros
This image has enormous power because of its composition. If you can picture a very large print (2 x 3 metres or so) of this image hanging in a gallery it would demand attention! Trust your gut feeling with this image because I think you got it right!

Ahh... one of my dreams is to exhibit some of my photos to a gallery...