Child Portait: 5 yr old

The Phototron · Dec 14, 2007

When you apply the blur you did mask the eyes right?

As for the edit, I prefer the original. The blurring is kind of unnecessary because her skin is very nice. Unless you're going for a dreamy effect.

emogirl · Dec 15, 2007

your work is much improved with these...the eyes are lovely....but the dress, what a distraction...i know it was not your fault, but try suggesting your clients what they should wear for optimal pics...they wont always listen, but hopefully it would be better than that dress!

try #2 in a black & white

bellacat · Dec 15, 2007

emogirl said:
your work is much improved with these...the eyes are lovely....but the dress, what a distraction...i know it was not your fault, but try suggesting your clients what they should wear for optimal pics...they wont always listen, but hopefully it would be better than that dress!

try #2 in a black & white

I learned with this session that i need to have some kind of guidelines as far as what to wear. I am going to be taking more photos of this little girl after the new year so I'm going to be sure she is not wearing busy fabrics.

I will post #2 in BW in a bit

bellacat · Dec 16, 2007

emogirl: here is #2 in bw

I'm still trying more ideas on image #3.

The Phototron · Dec 16, 2007

Honestly, post-processing doesn't do much for these photos, because the original is so well done. I could imagine the originals in a magazine, no problem. And I've seen similar images.

The color and pattern of the dress, as distracting as it appears, it's totally fashionable. So I vote no for black and white.

But they still look good in b/w, just not as well.

I didn't want to sound like I'm downplaying your post-processing efforts. They're good, I just don't think your photos need any more "pop" to them by adding more contrast, vignetting, and whatnot.

The_Traveler · Dec 16, 2007

IMO, #3 is the best of the bunch, primarily because her bangs cover her forehead a bit. The other pix emphasize the size of her forehead unpleasantly.

I think the different PPs on #3 work partially but they are much too obvious. Darken the surround but make the transition more subtle.

bellacat · Dec 16, 2007

thanks for the input on the PP of the last bunch. I guess its time to stop playing with them and move on

Alex_B · Dec 16, 2007

2 and 3 are the best ones for me.

the selective colour does not work for me, but the B&W of number 2 is nice ... maybe her face is s a bit blown out though and I would reduce exposure a bit. but that is maybe just me

jols · Dec 16, 2007

nice pics.

but for portraits i really dont like the way she is staring into the camera. its a bit creepy

slizerama · Dec 16, 2007

I actually really like the dress. As crazy as it is, it fits with her aqua eyes and bright pink lips. I think it adds a nice pop of color! I do like the 3rd one in B+W though. It's lovely in color, but the B+W is striking. It also helps tone down the distracting background. Nice work! I really like these.

bellacat · Dec 16, 2007

Thank you

AprilRamone · Dec 16, 2007

These are such an improvement! Nice job

I like #1 the best and I actually don't mind the dress pattern in #1, because I think the blue patches of her dress and her blue eyes really complement each other. I really like AllSmiles' pp of it as well.
Not digging the angle of her head in #2.
I think I prefer the 3rd one in B&W as her expression is the saddest there and the dress in full length is more distracting than it is in the headshots.

Anyway, congrats on such a huge leap of improvement in such a short amount of time