Puppy Love in Black and White

[Suzan J]

Does this image work in black and white? The colour version seemed to be too vivid and it seemed to detract from the "love feeling". Any PP suggestions? I cloned out two stray whiskers (on the dog!) and bumped up the contrast a tiny bit. Thanks in advance

Puppy Love BW by Soo J, on Flickr

[Mike Buckley]

It definitely has a lot of potential. If it was my image I would make adjustments in the order shown below:

1) Brighten the overall image by lifting the middle of the tone curve.
2) Increase contrast by using another tone curve to apply a standard S-curve.
3) Tone down the distracting bright area in the background on the right side.
4) Add a touch of Local Contrast Enhancement to the sharp part of the dog and to the man's hat.

[Shadowman]

Very nice, nice textures.