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[Granddad]

I did a mother and daughter shoot a couple of weeks ago and mum decided that she wanted me to remove daughter in one of the shots so she could use it as her (Mmmmff)th birthday portrait later in the year.

It would have been easier to have her back in the studio but I accepted the challenge because I wanted to see if I could do it.

1 is the original pretty much SOOC apart from a few minor adjustments in LR3.
2 is the finished product, celebrity treatment was done in Portrait Professional 11 with some tweaking in PSE8. It's a bit more cooked than I'd normally do but she specifically asked for "the heavy artillery." Her right arm was created in PSE8.

1 2

I spent far too long on it but I enjoyed it. I think I did a pretty fair job but after so long staring at the screen I've lost the plot. Comments, criticism and suggestions are welcome.

 

[ronlane]

Really nice job from me looking at it. (I'm no expert though).

 

[The_Traveler]

web browsers need sRGB to render well.

The right side of her head looks cut out. Her left side looks better.
Her arms are different sizes.

I don't think this is a good pose for her. It is stark and rather harshly lit, imo.

Sorry

 

[Photographiend]

I am so jealous of your steady traffic of people to photograph.

These aren't as "Wow" to me as the dancing lady I am sorry to say. I tinkered with the first a little: cropped a little off the top, upped the saturation slightly upped the shadows...



Unfortunately I am not adept enough to edit out the foot behind her head and with this particular pose I think having one lace their arm through the others would have been more appealing? Hard to say for sure... I am not experienced enough and sometimes it doesn't end up looking how we imagine it.

Good job with the backdrop though. I can honestly say for me it seems the backdrops get messed up right away. Of course I am only taking pics of my kids and pets atm but I am constantly telling them "Step like Ninjas not like Hippos"...

 

[Granddad]

Really nice job from me looking at it. (I'm no expert though).

Thanks Ron.

View attachment 41938web browsers need sRGB to render well.

The right side of her head looks cut out. Her left side looks better.
Her arms are different sizes.

I don't think this is a good pose for her. It is stark and rather harshly lit, imo.

Sorry

Lew, no need to be sorry about giving (1) good advice. I've heard about RGB vs sRGB but never applied it to my web photos, I need to do that in future.
(2) Your honest opinion. I value it and now I've had a good night's sleep I see what you're saying. Yes, I'm disappointed (I spent hours on it) but that's better than putting a sub-standard image out there as a sample of my work.

I am so jealous of your steady traffic of people to photograph.

'Phiend, it's a trickle of traffic rather than a stream and it's taken years of building a reputation. Work at it and you'll get there!

These aren't as "Wow" to me as the dancing lady I am sorry to say. I tinkered with the first a little: cropped a little off the top, upped the saturation slightly upped the shadows...

View attachment 41952

It's hard to top dancing ladies in sparkly costumes! :lmao: On the crop, I try to stay within the bounds of either a 6x4 ratio or a 1x1 ratio as this makes it easier for the subject to print and frame without going custom. Extra space on the edges allows for framing without losing bits of the image. (Those are tips I picked up here.)

Unfortunately I am not adept enough to edit out the foot behind her head ...

Nor am I, as Lew says, the side of her head looks chopped out.

and with this particular pose I think having one lace their arm through the others would have been more appealing? Hard to say for sure... I am not experienced enough and sometimes it doesn't end up looking how we imagine it.

I like that idea, next time I do a couple I might try it.

Good job with the backdrop though. I can honestly say for me it seems the backdrops get messed up right away. Of course I am only taking pics of my kids and pets atm but I am constantly telling them "Step like Ninjas not like Hippos"...

The backdrop I steam with a hand steamer to get the worst of the wrinkles out (£5 at a charity shop) and on the floor bit I smooth it out and then secure it to the carpet with duct tape so it doesn't move and rumple quite so much. Then in post I went over it with a burn brush to even it up.


Overall I now think it's a flop,too. No-way am I going to get those arms looking right or the right side of her head as it should be or recreate good lighting in post without spending too many hours at it.
I'm going to invite her back for a (Mmmff)th birthday shoot.

 

[Granddad]

Mum has accepted my offer of a free birthday solo shoot so we'll get to try again (she's a friend of ours and is good fun so no pain there). Got till November to do it so that gives me some time.

 

[Photographiend]

Yays! Can't wait to see the new stuff.

Going to have to try out the Duct tape thing. I generally avoid the stuff as it seems to be my husbands solution to every thing. He says "If it moves and it shouldn't Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and it should WD-40."...