trouble with skin tones

Osmer_Toby

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i did these for this girl's senior portraits. having trouble with skin tones, tho- highlights not right in first and it seems to me contrast in facial highlights are very poor in second. if you see anything else i can fix, please mention it- be as picky as you possibly can be, i need these to be as good as possible. thanks in advance~

folded-arms-on-chair.jpg



headshot-leaning-on-knee.jpg
 
I really like her expressions in these. In the first the blown out area along her nose is distracting.

I have a terrible monitor, but I think that the flowers are in focus and she is isn't.

Still like 'em.
 
Number two looks much more natural for skin tones. I agree with faithe, the flowers are very sharp. Did you run unsharp mask on the shot? If so you might want to just unsharp her and leave the background unselected for it.
 
These are both nice, Toby.... in the first one, the hot spot in the elbow is what I find most distracting. She has such a nice expression.

I love the soft-focus look of the second one, and the nice even light. :D Very pretty image.
 
The 1st image is one of the standard compositions and poses for a senior portrait. The lighting is dramatic but the overall portrait needed a fill light to bring out detail in the eyes and to lessen the lighting ratio in general. The rest of the blouse below the shoulder is distracting--you could clone that out.

The 2nd image is an ordinary shot. You could do a tight outcrop for a head and shoulder shot to improve the composition. You could selectively increase contrast and lighting on the eyes to make them more prominent. The eyes should be the point of focus
 
#1)
Too soft. I don't mind some softness in portraits, but in a posed portrait, in most cases I like the eyes to be sharper. Also the texture of her hair would be wonderful in sharper focus.

I'd like to see more fill light. The far side of her face and her eyes are too dark compared to the light on her cheek, chin, and nose.

Too cool. I think a little warmth would help the colors.

I don't like the bright spots at the lower right edge caused by highlights on chair and elbow, and light colored shirt in background.

Also possibly the pose might look better if her chin were overlapping her hand, rather than the hand blocking her chin.

#2)
Once again, the color seems a bit cool. I love the pose, but I'm very distracted by the sharpness of the flowers in the background compared to the softness of the subject.
 
the skin tones are not too bad, a bit saturation as
already mentioned could help.

You need more contrast, the lighting is flat.
Also your highlights are blown in the first one.
I personally don't like the color of the chair -
I'd change it to black (just desaturate in PS).

What bothers me most is that the focus is off.
1 st pic seems to be focused a bit more on
the chair.
The 2nd pic is definitely focused on the flowers.

If I recall it right you're using a 10D. Check if
your camera suffers from the known front/back
focus problem. If so, it needs service.

If you use the 7-point AF, turn it off and use the
center AF only, focus on the eyes and recompose.

I hope ths helps!
 
excellent feedback- thanks everyone, very much appreciated. back to ps i go!
 
If I recall it right you're using a 10D. Check if
your camera suffers from the known front/back
focus problem. If so, it needs service.

actually, i am having a b-tch of a time with focusin this camera- i thought it was me. what exactly is the front/back focus problem?
 
doxx said:
a 10D. Check if your camera suffers from the known front/back focus problem. If so, it needs service.

Did you have that problem?
For the affected camera, will this be fixed after the service?
 

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