B&W conversion + Dan's brown layer

[Granddad]

I was impressed with Dan Ostergren's recent brown addition to a B&W image and gave it a try (Gabriel, 8th January). I don't have Dan's dramatic lighting so I used a lighter brown layer. Any thoughts?

 

[smoke665]

Lovely lady regardless of which you use! I always struggle with the decision to tone/not tone a B&W. I suspect a lot of it is personal preference and in this case I prefer the original.

 

[Designer]

Years ago we would get a similar effect by selecting a print paper that would print in a slightly warmer tone or cooler as the case might have been. Same negative yielding different results.

I prefer the warmer one.

 

[jcdeboever]

I like them both but gravitate towards the B&W because it's what I prefer.

 

[espresso2x]

No.2 I think the toning works well.

 

[Rick50]

I agree with Smoke. I do like toning but I almost always use a selenium tone in NIK Silver efex.

 

[tirediron]

I think in this case, the colour of SWMBO's hair makes the original seem more appropriate.

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

I see merit in both and believe it would only be a matter of personal taste.

 

[Granddad]

Thanks guys 2 -4 in favour of the original.

I think in this case, the colour of SWMBO's hair makes the original seem more appropriate.

Hmmmmm... Interesting. Maybe I could try it again and leave the brown layer off the hair.

 

[Derrel]

Years ago we would get a similar effect by selecting a print paper that would print in a slightly warmer tone or cooler as the case might have been. Same negative yielding different results.

I prefer the warmer one.

I see merit in both and believe it would only be a matter of personal taste.

Yup...cold-tone B&W versus warm-tone B&W...a long running argument! In the past I tended toward the cold-tone look, but as time has passed, have moved more toward slightly warmer B&W looks.

I took a shot at the original file. Made a copy of the dust spotting settings on the blouse. On most of these, I opened up the shadows in the black blouse, then burned the lower left corner of the blouse back down. Here are my thoughts on the various edits of this lovely woman's portrait

1.
Edit 1-Adobe Lightroom's "Creamtone" preset, modified with the shirt burn-down. Recently I have been using Creamtone as my brown-type B&W toning. I like it. I adjust clarity and brightness and contrast as-needed.

2.
Edit 2: Lightroom's "Selenium" preset. To me, this has a delicate, ethereal quality to its toning.A traditional, old-time selenium-like look.

3.
Edit 3: Green Filter preset plus Ultimate Fighter Light preset. I personally like the green filter to make lipsticks look good, yet natural, in many of my B&W conversions in Lightroom. The Ultimate Fighter filter removes some high-frequency detail and makes the tones a bit more, well, bold, let's say. I often use U.F. as one of my secret seasoning ingredients, and then combine it with one or two other presets. I personally think this is a gorgeous conversion.

In conclusion: start with a great model, aim a decent light at the subject, and there's a hundred ways to convert to B&W. It's all a matter of the subject, the desired rendering, and personal taste.