RustyBug Offline Upload & Sell: On
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My initial response to the second one was ... a little high contrast, but still had a nice first response to it, then I moved on to the third.
I do not like the third one at all.
Imo, it looks flat, dull and lifeless ... except with an unnatural sharpness in her eye. I think your execution of it though looks good (if that makes sense), but the choices for doing so don't harmonize with your desired message.
To me the unnaturalness coupled with the "lifeless" aspect lends more toward special effect of some child portraying innocence, yet with a dark side looming within. I realize it is mono, but that gray skin just kinda creeps on me at not light enough to promote/emote "life". Her facial expression seems a bit forced/contrived/nervous/uncertain/stage (something) @ "stiff", so it too doesn't make a strong message of "vitality".
The combination of the two leave me running back to number two, where I might look to reduce some contrast a touch and maybe a diff crop, but #3 doesn't get it for me.
Likely not what you wanted to hear, but that's how it strikes me tonight ... maybe a look tomorrow and I'll see things diff.
Going back to the color version, it looks like there is a blue color cast. While color casts many not seem important for mono, I find they can have more impact (sometimes subtle, sometimes more so) than you might otherwise think. Whether I'm striving for mono or for color, WB is part of the process.
1st image is some wb tweaks and some desat (via BW layer 30% opacity).
2nd image is 100% BW layer opacity (same wb tweaks as 1st) ... which I kinda like as is without much convoluted PS work.
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