Please look at the picture full size.
The adaptability and openness to interpretation of a file in black and white is tremendous. I think that has always been the attraction of black and white for me whether done in the darkroom or digitally, it so open to personal interpretation.
To show how adaptable it can be this portrait was originally conceived and lit as a low-key picture. The file has been brightened by 4 1/2 stops in Lightroom and the contrast removed to give a much softer high-key feel.
Clarity which adds mid-tone contrast has been greatly reduced by around 75.
The input sharpening was done in a different way to normal as well. I usually sharpen at around amount 35 with a Radius of 0.7 these settings accentuate fine detail. The last thing you want to define in a female portrait are the pores of the skin.
Therefore to sharpen this picture I used a very low amount of 10 with a radius of 2.5, and masking 75.
A big hello to all the new followers of my little blog this week.
(c) Andy Beel FRPS 2012
Andy Beel FRPS 
I have NO idea what all those numbers are about but I like what you’ve done !
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I like the treatment you have given this portrait and nice to know how you achieved it, I would have expected the treatment to make the image more noisy than it is, just shows it’s worth experimenting!
Out of interest could you show us the low key image by comparison?
Now on a personal note if it had been my image……. (where have we all heard those words!) I would have been inclined to crop a little more off the top and from the left hand side of the image but there you are! 🙂 beauty lies in the eye of the beholder as they say. Lovely image anyway.
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I particularly light the way you have managed the eyes in this image, Andy.
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