First attempt with black and white conversion

[atlantean]

Hi all,
This is my first attempt at a B&W conversion. So, critique, please. (composition and lighting, maybe?)

Original photo



B&W copy

[arith]

I think the first or colour one is really moody and fantastic. You could use some filters to pick out the mood such as this purple filter with a hint of red on output.

[PopsPhotos]

Duc, I would pull the contrast and fill light back a bit on the B&W. There is a definite "mood" in the color shot and the B&W is too "journalistic" for my liking.

[pwnage101]

I think the greens should be darker, the midtones should be darker, and more black should be clipped. I don't think there's too much contrast, just that it's far too bright. I made a number of edits here:

layers from bottom-up:
-levels to clip and brighten
-curves for slight contrast
-curves to slightly darken greens
-black & white with slightly darker yellow
-curves for slight vignette
-slight local contrast
-USM 0.7px 80%
-levels for tinting

Done in 16 bit to best prevent banding. I guess I could have just done this in ACR

[atlantean]

Hi Troy,
Your edited version is really much nicer than my original. I dont know how to say it, but yours is very "soft and smooth". (plz excuse my language) :P
What is USM btw?
@Pops and arith: what mood can you find in my colour photo? I dont think i cant really coin a word, but i just thought of it at first as "dull", "lonely" and the kind of "going home" feeling.

[pwnage101]

USM stands for Unsharp Mask. It's a photoshop filter, and how most people sharpen images or apply local contrast (that's how I did local contrast in the image).

[arith]

Mmm, yes moody alone in the wood on the way home from work sort of feeling. I think it is a strong subject and whatever the crop eyes will tend to fall on the person. The background isn't really important except to emphasise the dense nature of the wood but the darkness and trees on the right add to the illusion.

That looks moody to me and not something I would sharpen because to sharpen would just confuse everything.

[PopsPhotos]

The mood I get is on the lines of "End of a Long Day." The "going home, at last" sort of mood.

Often people will talk about a picture being "moody" when they feel a strong emotion when they view it.

Pops