Charlotte

[gman172]

a pic of my partner charlotte - one of the few bw pics ive done

ive coloured her eyes blue - they are brown usually!
its something i always find myself doing with bw pics - colour popping - is it cheezy to do this?

im gonna keep practicing to get them right cos i think a great one is worth a million quid/dollars!

My Girl

criticise plz :thumbdown: or :thumbup:

 

[plentygood]

I've got mixed feelings about the eyes. One time I'll look at it and it'll look a little cheesy and the next time I think it looks good. Either way, I think the color is subtle enough that it doesn't hurt the picture.

All in all, I really like this picture.

 

[Tiberius47]

Nice pose, and pretty model, but the on camera flash isn't doing any favours. If you can't take the flash off camera or bounce it, then try turning the flash intensity down to avoid the blown out highlights.

Colouring parts of the pic like this is dangerous, because it's too easy to make it look cheesy.

 

[Renair]

I like it, I do the same with people with blue eyes, a little selective colouring, but I would use natural light and the glow off the lamp in the background doesnt suit the image, its a little distracting.

 

[plentygood]

Eyes and selective coloring aside, I kind of like the lighting and the lamp in the background. The lamp gives it a better sense of depth. The overly harsh lighting and contrast is a nice breath of fresh air compared to how many portraits with way too many midtones to be interesting.

 

[ilovephotoblogs]

I agree with plentygood. If you hadn't mentioned the eyes were colored, I would have never noticed. I like the composition, and high contrast. My only critique would be if you are going to spot color, if should be noticeable.

 

[JJP]

Cool photo, but try diffusing the flash somehow, will give it a more subtle approach with less bleached out parts.

 

[gman172]

ta

it was my 1st portrait shot and i was going for the high contrast look

you have all given me great points - the diffused flash sounds good - can you diffuse the onboard flash or do something different cos turning it down didnt give the effect i wanted and ended up with?

and i think the eyes are kinda cheezy too - but im not sure that it doesnt add a kind of 'something'!

ps. charlotte appreciates the pretty model comment - ands its done me a world of good posting it!

 

[Tiberius47]

You can difuse the camera's pop up flash. An easy way is to get a white ping pong ball and cut a slot in it so it fits over your flash head.

A better option is to use a flash with an adjustable head so you can bounce it off the wall.

 

[gman172]

thanks for that

oddly i just bought some ping pong balls for something we were doing at work

ta