Silverback Portrait with 300 II and 2x III (C)

[Rachel Hollander]

I think we had some fun with several people doing different takes on b&w conversions on the last zoo image I posted. So I thought I would post another one and see what people can come up with. Hopefully, our moderators won't mind as I'm just trying to promote some activity and participation in the Wildlife Forum :S3:. I'll post the color version here and my take on a conversion in the next pane.

Canon 5D3
300 II and 2x III
1/640
f7.1
ISO 1600
Monopod, shot through glass, crop for comp, luminosity mask, levels, curves, selective color, dodging and burning and sharpened in CS6.

Of course, C&C on either version (and on what others post) is welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Rachel Hollander]

Here's my take on a conversion. I used Nik and tried one of the antique presets, made some adjustments and then played around with a slight vignette.

Looking forward to seeing what others come up with.

Thanks,
Rachel

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, will have a ponder, as I feel this might be more for ETL or OOTB, unless there is a critique to be add to any RP on the OP and some form of rational.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, I feel the light wasn't quite on your side based on the techs and so in your processing it has leant towards being a little 'light' in itself, so did you have to retrieve detail etc? I think based on the OP you can be a lot more 'aggressive' with the whole image and create more depth, tone/richness & substance and then the image would have more impact and presence. I also feel you can certainly apply more sharpening too. Not sure if you were able to move a bit to your right, but the tree in the BKD which looks like it's sprout from his head is not ideal, but can be dealt with quite easily if you don't mind a bit of cloning. I would also apply some NR to the BKD, not much, but certainly along the trunk of the tree to the RHS.

Regarding the second RP by all means experiment, but don't fall into the traps others did a while back, you need to know why you are doing what you are doing and the implications to the image. Also what is the message you wish to communicate by changing the medium too. Certainly by exploring and learning what functions do, means you are better equipped to process you image.

Points to lookout for:
- More tonality
- Depth/richness
- Detail/Sharpening

TFS
Steve

[Steve Canuel]

My lack of originality and creativity will prevent me from coming up with alternate versions but I think your B&W version would look good with some blurred vignetting around that handsome fellow.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Rachel, well here is my take from yesterday.

I applied an overall Luminosity mask (my blend), then a mid tone blend, B/W version from NIK applied as a % overlay, Saturated the eyes, added some tonal Curve for the darks & then another for the lights (applied masks), USM applied to the face with an additional smart sharpen boost, cloned out the tree (roughly) and applied a slight NR to the RHS of the tree. The head still looks hot, however how far do you go? :w3

Steve