BW conversion - C&C

FoxT

my 1st real attempt at a B&W conversion . Done in lightroom, from an original RAW file. C&C welcome, thanks!.

swingking

personally it looks a little flat to me. A big of dodging and burning would give it some depth.

Nice composition tho

kelly1

Hello Foxt, it seems a tad flat to me too. Did you try increasing the Clarity slider?

I'd also like to see it with the "Lights" slider increased on the Tone Curve panel.

I'm not sure what else could be done with it.

magicbastarder

i think the main problem is the original image is not very eyecatching; it's a bit static, so you're kinda hobbled by that; there's no real focal point.

FoxT

Thanks for your comments. Is this better? overcooked?

squareballoon

There's a little too much contrast and you've clipped the blacks in these areas.
Nothing too serious but you should try and keep the detail in the dark areas if you can.

kelly1

Maybe just move the Blacks slider to the right a bit. I think it's an improvement though. IMO.

swingking

This actually looks good now. Has depth and shape.

hcnyla

The light is very poor in the original image so you aren't going to get a good b&w regardless of what you do. Lightroom can't create light.

Go back again when you have a nice low sun on the lighthouse and have another go. With some good light you should be able to get proper highlights and shadows and create a proper b&w.

thebaz

my c&c would be - Why bother converting ? looks much better in colour to me.