A formal portrait.

[Ballistics]

 

[chuasam]

lighting is great, the posing is great
processing feels a bit too dark and greyish but that might be my screen.
might also look better with warmer tones

 

[Ballistics]

lighting is great, the posing is great
processing feels a bit too dark and greyish but that might be my screen.
might also look better with warmer tones

Thanks. I would imagine the blue palette is bringing down the overall temp but skin tones on look pretty squared away on my end albeit cool. I did play with the tones by throwing in some warmth but I felt like this light and posing does so well with this color grade. I was kinda going for a "Don't take my kindness for weakness" vibe.

 

[tirediron]

Overall, I like this. I can see the blue tone working in certain circumstances. A couple of minor nits: I think his body is turned just a bit too far to the right, and his pocket square is causing a bit of a wrinkle in the fabric of the suit.

 

[Ballistics]

Overall, I like this. I can see the blue tone working in certain circumstances. A couple of minor nits: I think his body is turned just a bit too far to the right, and his pocket square is causing a bit of a wrinkle in the fabric of the suit.

Good catch on the pocket square. I'll keep an eye out for that next time.

 

[Jeff15]

Very nice.....

 

[Derrel]

I think I would crop the sides to make the aspect ratio less-square, and more tall and narrower.

 

[Ballistics]

I think I would crop the sides to make the aspect ratio less-square, and more tall and narrower.

This is a 4:5 crop. So you're saying 2:3?

The choice here was to mimic a chain of command portrait which are historically 8x10 photos. I do see what you are saying about the tighter crop though. I typically like to shoot tight.

 

[Derrel]

I think I would crop the sides to make the aspect ratio less-square, and more tall and narrower.

This is a 4:5 crop. So you're saying 2:3?

The choice here was to mimic a chain of command portrait which are historically 8x10 photos. I do see what you are saying about the tighter crop though. I typically like to shoot tight.

I'm slightly distracted by his placement within the total frame area. The gap on either side of him is "wrong" for a traditional bust-framed formal portrait (this is a bust, not a head and shoulders); his suit and body should form the so-called "base" of the portrait, with him spanning the frame's width at the bottom, which creates a much more-powerful psychological statement than what you have here. The space on either side of him makes him not fill the width of the frame...if the frame were narrower, his body would fill the frame width, automatically adding presence, masculinity,and strength; as-shown with the gap on both sides, he cannot fill the frame. This is very old-school formal portraiture thinking and what I was taught by a very old-line studio company that began in the 1920's.

This issue of the subject in relation to the overall frame area also continues with the head area; as-shown, his head looks small,within a large area of background. I'm not concerned with any specific aspect ratio, but more about the balance of the subject as seen against the background. I think he is shown as being too small within the frame, as-shown; cropping the frame down a bit would make him appear more-imposing. I think also that he is ever so slightly too far to the left of the center of the frame,at the eye level.

 

[pendennis]

Let me offer this:

• The main light is a bit high. It should be a bit lower, so it doesn't cast a facial shadow on the shirt collar.
• The fill light should be brought up about 1/2 stop. The shadows are a bit deep.
• The overall pose is good. I would have the subject lean a bit more forward, and a bit more toward the camera. He needs to be a bit more centered in the frame.
• A hair "kicker" should be aimed at the hair line and toward the background. This would highlight the hair and keep the high forehead from shining.
• My monitor shows a bit too much blue. My preference would be to use a gray, or darker brown background. The blue, it seems, cools the skin tone a bit too much.
• The crop needs to be tightened. We're interested in the subject, and the suit, shirt, and tie are ancillary. I agree with Derrel; it should be a bust shot, not a head and shoulders.

 

[Ballistics]

Interesting assessment, Pendennis. Thank you for taking your time out.
Also, This is a single light Rembrandt style portrait. I have to respectfully disagree with your sentiment that the light should be lower or that it needs a fill or a hair light.
I don't know, I just really dig the drama of it.

As for the blue, it's a blue palette color grade but I'm showing skin tones on point on my end. Flickr does have a tendency to crush colors on certain devices with compression so there is that.
On this page the colors are a hair muted compared to the original, on my phone however they're a bit saturated. But the actual jpeg shows the best balance of color.

I do believe that the photo would benefit from a tighter crop like derrel said though.

 

[Ballistics]

For those of you who are feeling that the photo is too cool, here's a color grade on the other end of the spectrum.

Summer evening.

 

[Derrel]

As far as it goes, one poster said it might look better with warmer tones; another poster said it would look better with a gray backdrop; I did a one-click, eyedropper sample white balance in Lightroom, clicking on the man's shirt collar. That white balance accomplished both warmer tones, and a gray background. I dunno...color can be done a lot of ways these days. If you like it one way, then stick with the way you like it.

 

[Ballistics]

I highly prefer the blue color grade because of the overall mood it produces. If straying away from dead center white balance is wrong, I don't want to be right. Note though, that the blue color on your diptic is really blue. Bluer than the OP.

 

[Derrel]

For those of you who are feeling that the photo is too cool, here's a color grade on the other end of the spectrum.

Summer evening.

I highly prefer the blue color grade because of the overall mood it produces. If straying away from dead center white balance is wrong, I don't want to be right.

I know what you mean...I myself do not mind a cool-tone color look on a lot of photos. Blue is, to me, quite acceptable...I grew up shooting Ektachrome 100 and Ektachrome 64 which were both quite blue, as well as Kodachrome 64 which gave a clown-color look to the world, and also Agfachrome (can you say ruddy-faced skin tones!?) for a couple of years; there is no one, correct color palette. Ektachrome looked a LOT LIKE your original edit! I grew kind of tired of "correct" color rendering a few years back...

Your original blue-toned color grading reminds me of the look of Ektachrome 100 shot using un-coated Speedotron flash tubes. Cool, and slightly blue in the whites. Very 1980's-like.