Black and White Portrait Photography

I chose this black and white portrait as the photo of the week for the mere intensity of the young model. Using a shallow depth of field (to soften the edges), I instructed the model to express intensity in his stare. The image was captured in color in front of a black backdrop. I used natural lighting as this image was captured outdoors. Using Photoshop and Nik Silver Efx Pro, I converted the image from color to black and white using a red filter setting to lighten the skin tones. The result was a high key, intense portrait