Every time I reveal a portrait in black & white my dad says the same thing… “Don’t do those black & white ones… we have color now.”

I liked it, but it wasn’t as awesome as I was hoping for… so I added a bit more warmth…

I still wasn’t overly excited about the results, so I decided to try some black and white.  I went with a black & white preset that I love…

But it was not the right choice for this picture.  I wanted something softer… something that brought my eyes out and made my skin silky smooth.

And voila.  When I saw this, I knew I’d found just what I was looking for in this picture.  The background was no longer a distraction and everything seems peaceful, calm, and clean.  I feel like I can take a deep breath and relax.