With this bare hand...

Another Saturday, another day shopping. I'm going through a phase of buying formal wear every time I'm in town, because with a new job on the horizon I feel like a fresh start is needed in more ways than one. I also went to the cinema this evening, so with it getting late I took a few random snaps.

In post-processing I converted this shot to monochrome, increased the clarity and contrast and made the darks darker and the lights lighter. You can tell that I need to wear gloves at the gym! Or perhaps I take too many photos...

I'm not a big tennis fan, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow's final. Andy Murray can become the first British winner of a Grand Slam since Fred Perry when he takes on Novak Djokovic in Sunday's Australian Open final. Although I'm loath to set the alarm at the weekend, I'll have to get up early as it could be a significant sporting moment!

Canon 7D, f/3.5, 1/200, ISO-100

[Teresa (pocketmouse)]

This is beautiful :) I love the character and texture of the hand.

[Carie Mansinon]

Great b/w and nice focus.

[Jess N]

wow this is stunning!

[wahyu]

such a character!

[Starfisher]

Nice B&W work

[Staci Singleton]

Nice :))

[Kirsty McLaughlan]

this is amazing, absolutely love it

[Robert Velten]

The most important tool is that which holds them, including your camera. Nice BW.

[moishi]

love the texture. great work! :)

[Rebbecca Castillo]

very nice Vik! Fantastic processing job :D

[LisLee]

Love this black and white, it is awesome. What is the background?

[alia_801]

Great job! So striking!

[Vikdaddy]

@lislee75 my carpet!

[Kelly Parker]

great processing!

[Jeff G.]

you really did a beautiful job with this. give yourself a hand...

[Lydia Sanchez]

Hands up! this is good :)

[Bethany]

Great texture!!!

[Dawn B]

Oh wow, that is cool, it makes me wanna try it!

[Marlene Chabot]

Very strong photo, and I love the post processing!

[Wendy]

Love the texture and the B&W. The processing is great for this photo!

[Kirsty .P]

Turned out really neat! Watching the tennis as I type,GO ANDY!

[Kirsty .P]

Damn,poor Andy.You can go back to bed now ;(

[Denh Lay]

great b/w conversion.

[Juliette Packham]

awesome contrast, lovely shot.

[Julia Richards]

This.. is too cool. :)

[Charlotte Backus]

wow thats amazing!!!!!

[Chad Kreutzer]

Nothing wrong a few callouses. Nice shot, kinda reminicent of some of the "working man" shots from the 30s.

[Stella de Jong]

Wow i love it!

[Rose]

Vik as always you have done an amazing job I love this!

[aikiuser (jenn)]

AWESOME ! ! !
And good luck to Murray--I'm rooting for him as well!

[Vikdaddy]

@aikiuser He lost earlier today unfortunately!

[aikiuser (jenn)]

@vikdaddy Dangitall! He always gets so close. Ah, well. Next time!
:-)

[rhyan olivo]

you nailed it!!! nice work... i love this one sir.. can i ask you? what kind of effects did u use?

[Vikdaddy]

@rhyan Hi Rhyan, I describe what I did in my commentary. I made all those changes in Lightroom. Hope this helps.

[mita dinglasan]

i was browsing the net on "tips how to get great B&W photos" when luckily this pic of yours pop up on my window, now i dont have to go further and search for more tips...sharing with us the easy and simple ways on how to get this awesome B&W photo is a big help for me... :) thanks to you!

[Sheetal Thakker]

this picture is so full of character!