B&W C/C Please

[AmberBella]

Here's a BW of my son. I'm terrible with B&W. Does the conversion work?

Color:

BW

EDIT TO ADD:
How about this version?

 

[Jose']

always have less grey, and try to always have a true rich black area.. get more shadows and tones ( play with the curves tool on photoshop, or if you have lightroom it is easier) Its B&W which i feel means, have more black that white LOL, but i like the childs expression its adorable.

 

[sunshinedaydream]

yes, i definitely agree that it needs more contrast

 

[tinafaecarroll]

I LIKE that there's not much contrast. I think that since it's of a young boy, the lines should be soft, but that's just my opinion.

Cute kid, by the way.

Tina

 

[sunshinedaydream]

I LIKE that there's not much contrast. I think that since it's of a young boy, the lines should be soft, but that's just my opinion.

Cute kid, by the way.

Tina

It's a good idea, I just tend to favor deep contrasts more. But without it, his eyes really pop out.

 

[Alpha]

The high key thing is alright, but in this case it makes him look like a porcelain doll, and I don't necessarily think in a good way.

 

[AmberBella]

I love all the points of view. I was aiming for a really "stand out" eye, but I guess the rest of the picture suffers for it. I'm sure I'll spend a lifetime trying to understand how to make a decent B&W!

OKAY, added a second BW version to the top....any better?

 

[tinfish]

Just my two cents, I agree with a little more contrast. But a great shot regardless.

 

[Alpha]

The problem is that this is so high-key that you don't have much latitude for dodging and burning in post to add extra contrast to the rest of the face and background. You might try for a middle ground by doing a partial desaturation of the color shot, and some light burning of the eyebrows.

A more advanced processing option would be using A/B channel curves in Lab color mode to increase the color separation and then doing the B&W conversion. I'm gonna give it a try and if it looks good I'll post the result.

Edit: Color separation doesn't really work. There isn't enough to separate.