Before and After * In Color and Black and White

I often get asked “what do your “straight out of camera shots” look like.  So here is one I took in a dark basement using my 580ex flash.  I dragged the shutter and this was the result out of the camera.  The exposure was good and it did not look too flashy.  But it lacked that crisp, sharp look.  Also – the button on the shirt was distracting to me.

So 1st I ran “Color Burst” from the “Complete Workflow Action Set” – I adjusted to taste.  Then I ran “Touch of Light/Touch of Darkness.”  I darkened the background and lightened up her face for a creamier, brighter skin.  I flattened.  Then I ran the “Eye Doctor” action set. Then I used the clone tool to minimize the button.  Looking at it now I still need to do a touch more work on that – but just did it fast for this example.  And lastly I cropped.  And for showing here added my frame and sharpened for web.

Next I decided this might look pretty as a black and white.  So I used “Vanilla Ice Cream” from the “Quickie Collection.” It is BEST to convert to black and white over a fully edited color shot in my opinion.  The results are more contrasty, sharper and crisp.  No more muddy images…  I would love to here which you prefer, SOOC, color or black and white – and why. Oh – and you may notice the crop is slightly different on the 2.  Which crop do you prefer?

Please leave a comment and let me know.