Portaits,Tattoos and the softness of black and white

The interesting thing about black and white photography is that the light and editing choices we make have a much stronger impact on the overall feel of the photo. 

Lower the contrast,  dull the highlights and keep the blacks for a soft, sad feel 

Bev @ supernovamodel.com 

Going to the other extreme,  black and white photos can take high contrast very well,  leading to a crisp image with plenty of impact

Stephen

Combining the two techinques (using an overlay layer and selectively masking) can provide the benefits of both approaches.

In the following image the dominant low contrast toning provides feel whilst  some high contrast is used to add detail selectively 

Amy.  Makeup by Krista Paris

And the last photo of the day :) 

Gaby, supernovamodel.com. Makeup by Krista Paris

For these photos the GoDox AR400 ringlight remained as fill or in the bag :) Bowens beauty dish sometimes with a pal in clamshell setup did the heavy lifting