First Portrait in a While

[Black_Square]

Firstly, it's nice to be back. I've had a busy few years starting a new business and also a family. Whilst the former is now taking care of itself, the latter isn't, and i find myself constantly chasing after a 4 year old and a two year old. It's a lot of fun, although photography has had to take a back seat. However, now that the business is up and running, i do feel i can take more time out for myself, and my camera. So will hopefully be posting more on here.

The shot below is of a homeless lady in Swansea, Wales. She was hanging around the train station so i went and had a chat. Whilst smoking on a cigarette she explained that she had throat cancer. It was difficult understanding what she was saying at times due to her illness, but nevertheless she liked to talk. I treated her to a chocolate bar and a cup of tea and took this shot.

Unfortunately, the image is displaying ever so slightly too dark after uploading to Flickr. I do find this incredibly annoying, as much of the detail from her coat has been lost when compared to my .PSD file. I spend a lot of time working on these images, so it really does disappoint me when the compression or whatever flickr is doing affects the image quality. That being said, it could be a problem with my browser, although the image is in sRGB so that shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, i'm open to suggestion for better hosting sites!

 

[DanOstergren]

Excellent lighting and color rendition.

I use imgur and haven't had much to complain about. I think this site also let's you upload directly to it if it's a matter of sharing here.

 

[Jeff15]

Thats a very lived in face....

 

[smoke665]

Unfortunately, the image is displaying ever so slightly too dark after uploading to Flickr. I do find this incredibly annoying, as much of the detail from her coat has been lost when compared to my .PSD file. I spend a lot of time working on these images, so it really does disappoint me when the compression or whatever flickr is doing affects the image quality. That being said, it could be a problem with my browser, although the image is in sRGB so that shouldn't be a problem.

Good to see you back, you haven't lost your touch. I use Flickr, to host but haven't noticed any significant degradation in IQ. With any site there will always be some difference between viewing the PSD file on your browser and the host image. I suspect what you're experiencing is a gamut issue. Your PSD file is 16bit vs the 8bit sRGB, which causes problems on subtle tonal variations.

About all you can do to minimize that is calibrate your monitor regularly, and create a virtual copy in LR, then soft proof to the sRGB v4 ICC preference profile. If that doesn't get you close enough, then compensate (on your virtual copy) with an exposure bump, highlight adjustment or sometimes resetting the white point/black point will do the trick.

 

[jeffashman]

That is a wonderful portrait! It tells a story, and you can see the years in her face and eyes.

 

[John 2]

That's a fine piece of work both in the taking and in post.

 

[slat]

Nice shot.

 

[Black_Square]

I've been busy of late so didnt get chance to respond to the posts. So, thanks for the feedback - I'm pleased you like the image.

Appreciate this is off topic, but I've been playing around with Adobe Premier Pro, and made a very short video of this image if you're interested. I still need a lot of practice on my video skillz!

 

[smoke665]

Appreciate this is off topic, but I've been playing around with Adobe Premier Pro, and made a very short video of this image if you're interested. I still need a lot of practice on my video skillz!

I've played around with various video apps in the past, I thought maybe I could display them on digital picture frames but there just wasn't much interest. I've had more response from coffee table books, much like the photo albums of my childhood, people seem to really respond to them.