My First Portraits (Part 1)...yes more to follow

[kundalini]

I'm joining the ranks of 1st portraits. You can tear me to shreds, but leave the model alone please.

I wish I knew how you guys brighten/lighten the eyes, but all I did was a bit of the usual - crop, levels, curves, etc.

1 - Okay, she was cold as a cucumber in the begining :neutral:....

2 - ...and one of the little doggie too (couldn't find a dog smilie).

3 - I think she felt prettier when I suggested a change of tops ...

4 - ...and began to enjoy herself a bit more ...

5 - ...and I had to make a fart joke about my Dad to get her to actually laugh .

Thanks for looking and as always, your critiques are welcome.

 

[doobs]

3, 4, 5 are a little dark.
Nice job though.

 

[JenR]

She looks like a very interesting lady! The black top is a much better choice for the portraits (especially with the background you were using!). I had a quick play with one of them.

I adjusted it using levels and a screen layer just over the eyes at about 30% opacity. There are a gazillion tutorials on doing eyes-- try Google for more than you ever wanted to know. If I want to 'pop' the eyes, I will generally select the eyes and do a screen layer and/or a color dodge layer and adjust the opacities as needed.

 

[petey]

I like #2.

 

[kundalini]

Thanks doobs, JenR and petey

JenR, thanks for the info. I will look it up. I like your enhancement. She's my Mom, so she is intersting me. She is a lovely lady regardless.

 

[kundalini]

Shamelessly bumping to get more comments from the daytrippers. =)

 

[sweet_a]

it appears that you're only working with one light, but another light or even a reflector to lighten up the shadows on the opposite side of the light would help tremendously IMO (dont have a reflector, use an empty white pizza box)

 

[kundalini]

Thanks sweet a.

I did have two lights. An SB-800 in front and a SB-600 behind, both on patients left. (Sorry, a term used at work, but I'm sure you get my drift). Also had the use of a reflector - opposite side. The setup may not (obviously) been the best, but I tried. For the first time out, I'm not kicking myself.

I was actually going for a shadowed side. Perhaps too shadowed.

Next one should be better.

Thanks for your comments.