critique my photos

Flynnstone · Dec 15, 2008

these are some photos i took with my XTI. tell me your opinion on how i can improve on my hobby.
thanks!!

Flynnstone · Dec 16, 2008

it seams to me that i should have applied the rule of thirds to some of these pictures.

elemental · Dec 16, 2008

The first one seems pretty underexposed to me. Were you going for a "darker" look? I played with it a little in Lightroom- the biggest things are the exposure bump (close to 1 stop) and some playing with the curves to keep the background dark. I also cooled off and de-vibranced the colors a little, which seems to be in keeping with the idea, and masked a few things. What do you think?

blash · Dec 16, 2008

elemental - the OP's version, although a little underexposed, makes the subject reminiscent of being an artist or librarian of sorts, since the color in her face complements the artwork behind her. Part of the problem with your corrections is that the color of her face now parallels the artwork, suggesting that instead of being the caretaker or creator of the artwork, she is the subject of the artwork personified. It makes the subject look a little more evil or witch-like in my opinion, in part exemplified by the eyes - overly green, and with a little more pop out of the face than in the original. I'd try to correct this myself but unfortunately I have an exam tomorrow I need to study for and stop procrastinating about XD

hope the critique on the portrait helps.

rdzmzda · Dec 16, 2008

whats going on with the sides of the painting did u crop the frame on there? other than that even though its underexposed i like the first one better....i dunno just appeals to me more.....the others look overexposed to me...but im assuming they are through glass and also with flash....at least thats always my problem at the place with all the fishes

elemental · Dec 16, 2008

blash said:
elemental - the OP's version, although a little underexposed, makes the subject reminiscent of being an artist or librarian of sorts, since the color in her face complements the artwork behind her. Part of the problem with your corrections is that the color of her face now parallels the artwork, suggesting that instead of being the caretaker or creator of the artwork, she is the subject of the artwork personified. It makes the subject look a little more evil or witch-like in my opinion, in part exemplified by the eyes - overly green, and with a little more pop out of the face than in the original. I'd try to correct this myself but unfortunately I have an exam tomorrow I need to study for and stop procrastinating about XD

hope the critique on the portrait helps.

Interesting- I thought the opposite. The red tones of the model on the green tones of the painting seemed to clash for me, so I tried to get them a little closer (without making her skin green, of course). Red on green is tough on the eyes. As for the evil/witch, this was my take on it, so I tried to up the drama with the "pop" in the eyes and face, among other things. I was going for drama. It's definitely heavy-handed, but it was my five-minute take on it. I guess we'll have to let Flynnstone weigh in on the intentions part.

Post-processing is something I really want to get good at, so I appreciate your criticism and I would be very interested in seeing your interpretation (once you finish exams, of course).

Flynnstone · Dec 18, 2008

here is an updated version that i just edited. let me know what you think...

confused_in_the_darkroom · Dec 18, 2008

it's definitly an eerie pic. very good

OldClicker · Dec 18, 2008

Flynnstone - I like your second one for the slightly better skin tones.

Also, good captures of the reef through the glass. Your tank?

Elimental - Looks processed.

TF

ATXshots · Dec 18, 2008

I prefer Flynnstone's second edit. Elemental, the skin tone on your edit seems a bit to bright.

Aggressor · Dec 18, 2008

I would decrease the magenta a tad in the face. In the OP's second edit, the face is softened so much that it looks like plastic. Texture was fine in the original.

For next time, try a reflector on camera left and bounce your flash to the right (if there is something to bounce off of). The reflector should give her hair more dimension.

rufus5150 · Dec 18, 2008

#1 needs to be exposed correctly (though you can do quite a bit in post on this particular image). Could use some form of kicker to separate her from the background a bit. Also, in creating the left and right sides of the frame, those are very, very obviously cut and pasted in. The face has a shade too much red in it but only very slightly once the exposure is corrected.

Flynnstone · Dec 18, 2008

thanks for all the replies. when i removed some of thr reds from the face, it blended the face with the background more than i liked. it took all the "pop" out.
yes these pictures of the reef were taken through the glass. it is my tank , and has been running for a few years now. its my other hobby. :mrgreen:

Aggressor · Dec 18, 2008

What I've found is when you back off the magenta, you need to balance it by adding cyan to keep it natural. Try that and you may have more success. Also, if you selectively brighten just your model, it may help increase separation from the background.

rufus5150 · Dec 19, 2008

Did you soften the skin at all? I went to do an edit just to see what you might be able to do with the exposure values and such but there were some strange artifacts and smoothing of the skin. In any event, this is by no means an ideal edit, but it brings the exposure up, crops out the cut and paste bits (unfortunately gets rid of the frame) drops some of the reds out of the face without (I hope) making her look greenish and isolates her from the background just a bit. Also a quick touch to de-emphasize the size of the forehead.