Jan Handman
About the Image(s)
This shopkeeper in Italy caught my eye, I think mostly because of his orange apron, but I decided a B/W treatment would be better to highlight the dramatic shadows,
his facial features, and the smoke off his cigarette.
I used custom settings in the PS Lens Correction filter to fix the vertical perspective of the archway, and then cropped in closer to focus on him. I then used Topaz Silver Effex Pro 3 to convert to B/W. Back in PS I used the Spot Healing Brush to get rid of the vertical metal pieces on either side of the arch and many white specs that remained in the dark background inside the doorway. Lastly, I applied a slight vignette with a 22% black brush to bump down the brighter parts of the edges.
5 comments posted
Your decision to convert to black and white was a good one in my opinion. My only thought is if lightening up the shadows just a little more in the doorway would add anything? Not knowing what's behind him, I don't know if seeing a little more would add interest or not? Regardless, I like your choices and think this is a great image.   Posted: 09/19/2023 17:44:33