I am afraid to show these.........

[oldnavy170]

I feel these are my best yet but I still wanted to share............

 

[NJMAN]

Why are you afraid to show these?? They are beautiful! Very nice use of golden light in #1. The eyes are super sharp and piercing. Wonderful sharpness, focus, and color. The second one is not quite as sharp in the eyes, but still great overall. To me, its best to show the color of those fantastic eyes. I think these qualify as a 3/4 portrait, which I love.

Well done! :thumbup:

NJ

 

[mysteryscribe]

Generally speaking I don't like extreme close up portraits but these are nice for what they are.

 

[skieur]

You have improved on the colour but work is still required either before shooting or in postprocessing. Why did you not consider a vertical rather than a horizontal shot? The hat is washed out where the sun hits it, so changing angle slightly when shooting or correcting the wash out in post processing is necessary. The eyes have too much red in them including veins. This can be corrected with eye drops before shooting or in post processing too. The eye lashes and eye brows can be sharpened to match the sharpness of the eyes through Photoshop. The hair needs some combing or brushing before the shot or some touch up in postprocessing. The freckles need to be softened a little and that can be done before the shot with a little make-up or after the shot with postprocessing. (Notice. I said softened, not eliminated.)

Considering the work involved, I am impressed that you are even taking on the challenge of shooting portraiture and you certainly are demonstrating some talent. Now what you need is the trained "eye" and attention to detail.

skieur

 

[jemmy]

cute... and please keep those strawberry-shortcake freckles!! they are gorgeous x

 

[LaFoto]

Use eye-drops on one's own daughter's eyes for a girl's portrait before shooting only to get the eyes whiter?!?!? :shock:
The thought would NEVER occur to me!

Use make-up on a ... let me guess :scratch: 10 or 11-year-old girl's face to soften what lovely freckles she was given by nature? :shock:

Either I'm doing everything all wrong in those rare moments that I decide I want to try out my portrait-taking on my own daughter, or ...

 

[Rusty_Tripod]

These are nicely done. I do think that drawing back to eliminate the "in your face" capture would enhance their quality greatly.

Rusty Tripod

 

[dgs]

*chuckle* yeah, me too, LaFoto

Nice work, Navy

 

[PNA]

Excellent.....lighting is right on!

 

[stellar_gal]

Good work. She has very engaging eyes!

 

[zendianah]

I think that the eyes are awesome. I love the photo... Very engaging...

 

[skieur]

Use eye-drops on one's own daughter's eyes for a girl's portrait before shooting only to get the eyes whiter?!?!? :shock:
The thought would NEVER occur to me!

Use make-up on a ... let me guess :scratch: 10 or 11-year-old girl's face to soften what lovely freckles she was given by nature? :shock:

Either I'm doing everything all wrong in those rare moments that I decide I want to try out my portrait-taking on my own daughter, or ...

There is a product called Visine which is widely used to get the red out. For serious portraits, it is worth using. For others, postprocessing is just as easy.

As to make-up, even Arnold Schwarzenheger and other men use it on camera and for serious portraits it is also part of the tools of photographers who are not skilled in postprocessing. Again I prefer postprocessing.

As to whether you are doing it all wrong...It depends on what you are doing. When I am taking photos of my daugther or son and it was what they are doing that is important, then little or no postprocessing is required. If on the other hand, I am doing a portrait....close like these, then the objective is to be flattering as well as natural,...but both can be accomplished with both preparation and good camera work, as well as postprocessing.

Any subject likes to remember a portrait for how good he or she looked in it, definitely not for that "natural" zit, red eyes from allergies, or other minor blemishes no matter how real they may be.

skieur

 

[L. Wood]

Navy, I really like these shots. The eyes are wonderful. I like the second photo better because she has a much softer, childlike expression. Another thing that I noticed, only because I have had trouble in my own shoots, is that her lips look a bit dry. I actually tell the mothers of my child clients to put chapstick on them because it softens the wrinkles and makes it easier for them to smile. It mind sound like a silly idea, but it works for me. Anyway, I love your perspective on these pictures. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Christie Photo]

...I still wanted to share...

I'm glad you did. What an interesting face! With those eyes, I really like the color view.

Pete

 

[skieur]

The eyes are well-done in terms of brightness and exposure but some posters need to train their "eye" to look carefully at fine details. That is what experienced pefectionist portrait photographers do without even thinking about it. Details can be ignored only by an amateur photographer, not by any successful pro.

Even if you think, I am only venturing a personal opinion, I counteract that notion by pointing out that there are a considerable number of books, and courses and guidelines out there that reinforce what I have said. Do the research, if you don't have the experience.

LOOK CAREFULLY and photographically at every aspect of the photo and pay attention to every detail. Emotion or personal bias, by the way also should have nothing to do with it. The professional critique of photos should be totally objective.

skieur