cc on a few please

Evertking · Jun 28, 2019

thanks..

Granddad · Jun 30, 2019

You've nailed her face and the fore and backgrounds but that white surplice/choir robe thing (for me) spoils the shots. It gives her the shoulders of a footballer (and seems to have no relationship to the rest of her outfit), particularly in number 3 where she's square on to the camera. I assume from what's visible of her body type that she doesn't really have the shoulders of a quarterback. If she's in a choir as well as being a sportswoman I suppose it will have relevance to those who know her well but as images standing alone... No. It's a pity because, as I said, you've done so well with the depth of field, the setting and the lovely young lady's face, expressions and hair.

Dean_Gretsch · Jun 30, 2019

Of the set, the first is the best for me. In the other 2, her makeup seems too excessive ( or is it the editing? ).

tirediron · Jun 30, 2019

Great job; lovely lighting, perfect foreground/background separation... except for her face: The skin smoothing really, really feels overdone.

480sparky · Jun 30, 2019

My only thumbs-down is the hug OOF flower in the first shot.... far too over-powering and forces itself on the viewer.

The white robe may simply be the subjects wardrobe choice. Maybe it's a the graduation gown... or she's going into a field where they wear such an item (doctor, vet etc).

Jeff15 · Jun 30, 2019

Nice set although the flower in the foreground of the first is a little overpowering.....

smoke665 · Jun 30, 2019

Maybe it's the pretty smile but #1 Is my favorite on the face. Processing has a better feel. Like another comment the OOF flower in the front hurts. I've seen this technique used before but in this case it may not be working.

In the 3rd one the position of the right hand and arm seems award, and you might want to touch up the three light streaks at the top of her left cheek.

Like others have mentioned the white coat is confusing without something else to alert the viewer to how it ties in. Also as others have mentioned I'm not a fan of squared off football shoulders on women, but she's such a beauty that she pulls it off.

Scott Whaley · Jun 30, 2019

I agree with Jeff. The flower in the 1st one pulled my attention away from the subject. I actually like the 3rd one the best. Nice depth of field.

Derrel · Jun 30, 2019

My personal favorite is the second photo with the quiet closed lips expression and a good framing. In the first photo the very strongly out of focus hanging plant in the upper left corner is extremely strong and it's a pretty well-known that people in the west tend to dislike out of focus foreground objects while people in the orient often use this trick on many shots,especially wedding and portraiture outdoors.

I myself have always liked out of focus foreground bokeh,but for many people in the United States and Europe any out of focus object,no matter how small it is in the foreground causes immediate complaints. In your case you've got two elements, one that is moderately out of focus,and then an object that is closer and which is extremely out of focus.if you look around you will see what I'm talking about --in Japan this is an extremely common shooting technique, but in the west, it is extremely uncommon.

The picture that I like the least of the three is the third one and I personally think that her right hand supporting her left elbow looks extremely unnatural and forced. Zooming in on my phone and thereby cropping the final image it looks better without that right hand and arm.

I don't object to her make up, but it does look like she applies foundation pretty heavily but this is the year 2019 and that is the current style. Overall I don't mind the first two images, but that last picture I really do not like and it is all because of the pose. I do like the first two photos with the second one far and away my favorite of the three

Donde · Jun 30, 2019

Thumbs up on number one. Number two would prefer cropping out some of the bottom of the image. Number three weird part of leg showing, would crop it out.

Granddad · Jul 1, 2019

tirediron said:
Great job; lovely lighting, perfect foreground/background separation... except for her face: The skin smoothing really, really feels overdone.

99.9% of the time I agree with you John but in this case I think the skin smoothing has been achieved by make-up. I looked as closely as my ancient and dim eyes will allow and I see little bumps that skin smoothing would eliminate. I'm with Derrel on this one that it's a heavy application of foundation. I'm not fond of the fashion trend, it always looks like a mother of the bride makeover to me. On a young girl it isn't appropriate but it seems that many MUAs don't agree with me.

Derrel said:
....My personal favorite is the second photo with the quiet closed lips expression and a good framing. In the first photo the very strongly out of focus hanging plant in the upper left corner is extremely strong and it's a pretty well-known that people in the west tend to dislike out of focus foreground objects while people in the orient often use this trick on many shots,especially wedding and portraiture outdoors.

I quite like the OOF hanging plant. I wonder if I might be influenced by having spent 7 years in the Far East in my youth?

tirediron · Jul 1, 2019

Granddad said:
99.9% of the time I agree with you John but in this case I think the skin smoothing has been achieved by make-up. I looked as closely as my ancient and dim eyes will allow and I see little bumps that skin smoothing would eliminate. I'm with Derrel on this one that it's a heavy application of foundation. I'm not fond of the fashion trend, it always looks like a mother of the bride makeover to me. On a young girl it isn't appropriate but it seems that many MUAs don't agree with me.

Hmmmm... on closer examination I think you might just be right GD. I sit corrected!

smoke665 · Jul 1, 2019

tirediron said:
Granddad said:

99.9% of the time I agree with you John but in this case I think the skin smoothing has been achieved by make-up. I looked as closely as my ancient and dim eyes will allow and I see little bumps that skin smoothing would eliminate. I'm with Derrel on this one that it's a heavy application of foundation. I'm not fond of the fashion trend, it always looks like a mother of the bride makeover to me. On a young girl it isn't appropriate but it seems that many MUAs don't agree with me.

Click to expand...

Hmmmm... on closer examination I think you might just be right GD. I sit corrected!

Don't sit real tight till the OP weighs in on the subject. I've followed EK for some time now, and watched him as he's progressed in his skill set, to the point that he's getting very good. It may be foundation makeup, or it may be processing or it may be both, the fact that there are differing opinions is a testament to that skill set.Hopefully he'll weigh in and settle the debate, because I'd also like to know. LOL

Ps has a number of different ways in which to process skin, from frequency separation to Gaussian blur . A surface blur mask, which I prefer because of it's simplicity, will soften and blur the skin, but leave the edges sharp, so if you have skin texture it won't obliterate them. Then there's always the option or replacing skin entirely using a 50% gray layer with embossing, blur and noise. I've accumulated a whole library of these, some of which can be quite realistic in their effect.

vintagesnaps · Jul 1, 2019

Since she's wearing what looks like a cheerleading/drill team outfit I'd take that to mean she wants photos showcasing that - the name of the school/team is obscured in every picture.

The hair can't be covering the lettering, nor the white shirt. I suppose the white shirt is something to do with school spirit, so you need to figure out how to make it work. Her arm shouldn't be covering the school name either. The hair and the shirt needed to be arranged.

I don't think I'd provide these to a client. If it's a favor for a friend of the family or relative kind of thing, it's a disservice to use photos that don't represent the school spirit she seemed to want to convey. I'd say it'll need a reshoot.

Evertking · Jul 11, 2019

Hey, been on vacation and I stay very busy with 6 children. The girl in the pictures does indeed use a LOT of makeup and I will post an unedited photo BUT it is a mix of that and my heavy hand, I'm sure.