Portrait of my Mom: She celebrates her 90th year on this planet later this month. She's still sharp and active. I did an impromptu photo session with her last night to get a photo for...

GregWCIL Loc: Illinois

She celebrates her 90th year on this planet later this month. She's still sharp and active.

I did an impromptu photo session with her last night to get a photo for the local paper. I only had the one flash which I bounced off the ceiling and wall. Hung a blue sheet up on the door several feet behind her. Here it is in B&W and color. (The paper will likely use the black and white version.) I'm pretty happy with the color one, but I am a total amateur at converting to black and white.

Any suggestions? Feel free to download and adjust.

Edit: Oops posted two color versions, I'll add the B/W.

(Download)

Ol' Frank Loc: Orlando,

What a lovely lady. I hope she has many more birthdays.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

GregWCIL wrote:

She celebrates her 90th year on this planet later ... (show quote)

Congratulations to her and many more wonderful birthdays to come.

You did well. The colour version is quite nice. The lighting is really good, especially in avoiding reflections from the glasses.

The black and white will more than likely be quite good for its intended purpose. Papers tend to like higher contrast work for half tone printing.
--Bob

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

GregWCIL wrote:

She celebrates her 90th year on this planet later ... (show quote)

Congratulations to her and many more wonderful birthdays to come.

You did well. The colour version is quite nice. The lighting is really good, especially in avoiding reflections from the glasses.

The black and white will more than likely be quite good for its intended purpose. Papers tend to like higher contrast work for half tone printing.
--Bob

Reworked

(Download)

GregWCIL Loc: Illinois

rmalarz wrote:

Congratulations to her and many more wonderful birthdays to come.

You did well. The colour version is quite nice. The lighting is really good, especially in avoiding reflections from the glasses.

The black and white will more than likely be quite good for its intended purpose. Papers tend to like higher contrast work for half tone printing.
--Bob

Wow. Your version really pops, Bob. Would you mind sharing what you did?

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

GregWCIL wrote:

Wow. Your version really pops, Bob. Would you mind sharing what you did?

Greg,
First, thank you for the very nice compliment. I don't mind sharing what I did at all. It was nothing spectacular. All I did was a simply vignette the edges of the photo and reduced the center luminosity approximately 7%, Reduced the border luminosity by 45%, and made the center portion approximately 25% of the image size. I hope that made sense.
--Bob

GregWCIL Loc: Illinois

rmalarz wrote:

Greg,
First, thank you for the very nice compliment. I don't mind sharing what I did at all. It was nothing spectacular. All I did was a simply vignette the edges of the photo and reduced the center luminosity approximately 7%, Reduced the border luminosity by 45%, and made the center portion approximately 25% of the image size. I hope that made sense.
--Bob

What program are you using, Bob. I have Lightroom CC v. 6. I use the vignette control often. And I know how to adjust the luminosities of various colors, but I don't see how you reduced black and white luminosity, especially relative to the center area vs. the border. Did you use a radial filter? Or perhaps an entirely different program?

Thanks for you patience. I know I'm learning some valuable new methods here.

MagicFad Loc: Clermont, FL

GregWCIL wrote:

She celebrates her 90th year on this planet later ... (show quote)

Your photos look very natural and real. I wouldn't change a thing. Nice Job!

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

GregWCIL wrote:

What program are you using, Bob. I have Lightroom CC v. 6. I use the vignette control often. And I know how to adjust the luminosities of various colors, but I don't see how you reduced black and white luminosity, especially relative to the center area vs. the border. Did you use a radial filter? Or perhaps an entirely different program?

Thanks for you patience. I know I'm learning some valuable new methods here.

Hi, Greg. I created a layer which was filled with 50% gray. The used that to "burn" and "dodge". I dodged, or removed some, actually almost all, of the gray near the center. Center being your mom's face and hair.

Then burned, darkened the gray, around the outside areas. This is done with a soft brush set to between 10-15%, or less.

The process of using a layer to burn and dodge makes the process non-destructive. Once I was pleased with the vignette, I simply merged the layers and saved as a jpg.
--Bob

donolea Loc: Nashville, TN

GregWCIL wrote:

She celebrates her 90th year on this planet later ... (show quote)

Your B&W version looks very good and should reproduce well in your paper. As someone who has spent 20+ years working for newspapers and magazines, I can tell you something most folks don't know. That is, you will get between an 15-20 percent press gain depending on the type of newsprint used. If your mids and shadows are too dark, you will lose all detail in your moms sweater.

The version that another downloaded and posted looks nice on the computer but that press gain will turn her sweater to a nearly solid black. I might bump up your midtones just a touch on her forehead, but that would be it. Also, be sure and sharpen it as well, if you haven't already newsprint really needs sharpening. Just don't over sharpen. ;-)