The Veteran's Portrait Project continues

[smoke665]

Wow tough crowd. I'm reminded when I see great work like yours being critiqued, that no matter how good we may get there's always room to improve. Despite any flaws pointed out I think it is great and one that the gentleman and his family will enjoy for years to come.

 

[jcdeboever]

Original is way better.

 

[Ysarex]

(And Joe, why would there be a reason to readjust the size of his head or body? I think the dark jacket against a dark background makes that stand out less than the higher contrast lighter hair color, but I don't think it requires adjustment.)

Change the head/hands size relationship. Try it.

Joe

Here it is at +4; I tried +10 (and +8, +6 and +5), but I didn't like it. That said, now I'm firmly convinced his hands are too prominent!

You do mean - and not +. Deliberately causing a downward convergence has the advantage of making his hands smaller as it makes his head larger (relatively de-emphasize the hands), but then it has the negative effect of stretching/elongating him. Countering that with Image/Adjustments/Scale gets you back a normal appearance in his face while keeping the changed head/hands relationship.

It's subtle, regardless it's an excellent portrait.

Joe

 

[tirediron]

Very nice work for an admirable project. Well done and thanks for sharing.

I'm okay about the hands. For a traditional portrait, they are a bit prominent. But for a military man, the hands being obvious and a bit distorted has a bit of symbolism I think. We also have a triangle of the hands, head and metals that works visually.

The one thing that jumped out at me given the likely clothing of who you're shooting and the lighting is the dimple in the tie....it's big and it's off-center. That (to me at least) becomes more eye-catching b/c everything is a bit darker and conservative. Center the dimple. Or make it a bit smaller.

Thanks Joe! Appreciate that. I did try and fix his tie, unfortunately it didn't want to cooperate and his wife just rolled her eyes and said, 'His ties ALWAYS look like that!' at which point I left well enough alone. I agree it's not idea, and for a traditional portrait client, I would likely have really tried to fix it, but for this project, I like things like that; I can see his grandchildren saying, 'He never could get his tie right' or something similar.

Wow tough crowd. I'm reminded when I see great work like yours being critiqued, that no matter how good we may get there's always room to improve. Despite any flaws pointed out I think it is great and one that the gentleman and his family will enjoy for years to come.

It's all good; critique is what drives us to improve. I appreciate every comment I get on an image.

Original is way better.

Thanks JC

You do mean - and not +. Deliberately causing a downward convergence has the advantage of making his hands smaller as it makes his head larger (relatively de-emphasize the hands), but then it has the negative effect of stretching/elongating him. Countering that with Image/Adjustments/Scale gets you back a normal appearance in his face while keeping the changed head/hands relationship.

It's subtle, regardless it's an excellent portrait.

Joe

Yes, I do mean "-", not sure why I typed "+" but the slider was set to "-". Thanks!

 

[smoke665]

It's all good; critique is what drives us to improve. I appreciate every comment I get on an image

And that is the attitude that makes this site so great. I've been on other so called "Photography" sites whose sole purpose seemed to be self gratification for posting images regardless of the quality, and heaven forbid anyone makes constructive criticism. The board would jump on that person like a pack of wolves. The fact that you and others on here take the time to guide those less qualified like myself, yet can graciously accept critique, speaks highly of this forum.

 

[johan65ZA]

Excellent work.

 

[tirediron]

And that is the attitude that makes this site so great. I've been on other so called "Photography" sites whose sole purpose seemed to be self gratification for posting images regardless of the quality, and heaven forbid anyone makes constructive criticism. The board would jump on that person like a pack of wolves. The fact that you and others on here take the time to guide those less qualified like myself, yet can graciously accept critique, speaks highly of this forum.

The thing is, no one is more qualified than anyone else to offer critique since it's all opinion. Some people have more experience than others, and are able to offer more in-depth points, but at the end of the day, we're all equal.

Excellent work.

Thank-you!

 

[Gary A.]

Well done ... And I salute you for taking on the project. Veterans deserve so much more than they get. God Bless our vets and God Bless You.

 

[tirediron]

Thanks Gary, from someone with your talent and background I take that as high praise indeed! Much appreciated and agree 110% on the Veterans!