Portrait of a girl

[Yisehaq]

Hi,
I am trying to work on my portrait skills these days. Shooting as well as PP.

I shot these photos sometime ago. I didn't do much with them in colors because they were shot in a harsh lighting conditions in the middle of the day. Going back to them after listening to the latest podcast inspired me to convert it to B&W and the conversion seems to improve the image. What do you think?

[Iguanasan]

Wow! The expression in the second photo is priceless though she looks ticked off. I really like these B&W versions though not seeing the colour ones I can't really compare.

[Marko]

I like the second portrait due to the intense gaze.
Not sure about your intent here but the lighting is totally off for a flattering portrait, it's so harsh and the conversion to BW can not eliminate light quality. There is a dark shadow running diagonally through the subject's face in shot 2.
If your goal was more of a documentary style photo, then the harsh light totally works.
Hope that helps - Marko

[edG]

I think Marko has nailed it completely, I see shot #2 as a good documentary/photo journalistic capture. As to shot one, mid-day is always a tough time to shoot anything, I wonder if a little fill flash might have saved the day, it is very easy to forget about the use of flash in the mid-day sun.

[Yisehaq]

Thanks Iggy, Marko and edG

If your goal was more of a documentary style photo, then the harsh light totally works.
Hope that helps - Marko

Yes, it was a documentary style photo. As Marko mentioned I liked the gaze of this girl. That was my main reason to save the shot.
"Of course PP is to be creative not to save the image". I don't know who mentioned this in this forum sometime ago.