first portrait post

[EFHATCH1990]

here is a portrait I shot the other day I would just like some cc on it

as far as editing goes I just removed some blemishes and adjusted the levels and white balance and the lighting was a frosted window directly behind me with the sun shining thru.

 

[Derrel]

Good flesh tones--very "real" looking skin tones! Model has nice,direct,honest-looking gaze at the lens. Shadows under her nose and chin add dimensionality, and depth cues. Framing seems a bit tight and cramped, and the contrast in her hair seems a bit too high, with her hair on the sides at around her eye level dropping off into inky blackness on my monitor. Same at the part in her hair--a bit too high a contrast level in the shadow values.

The way the light hits her face, that window is acting like a 24x30 inch softbox from about 6 feet distant, causing a very teeny-tiny shadow under her lower lip, a moderate shadow under her nose, and a deep shadow under her chin; all three of those shadows together help shape and define her face for the camera, so I think you need to look at this picture very,very carefully and for a long time, and really come to understand,fully, just how the placement of this light source "works". You can go back to that same window, and use it as a light source again, and do decent shots there, with the knowledge that you have a very shape-defining, yet subtle, source of main lighting!

 

[bazooka]

I think the thing that's going to really help this one out is a backlight to separate the hair from the background, as Derrel suggested.

The light source is actually surprisingly hard... at first I thought it was a camera flash. I'm not saying good or bad, it just threw me off.

 

[EFHATCH1990]

thanks for the input guys

 

[EFHATCH1990]

here is another one edited slightly differently. Also after looking at the first one on my home computer the contrast does look a bit to much (her hair blending in with the background) along with most of the photos I edited on the macs at school. I've been editing in adobe camera raw any tips about that would be cool

 

[tomato1236]

The lighting's alright and the image is very crisp. In my experience, women in particular are...particular about their photos. This is a very close-up shot that shows every textural detail of her skin. This works great for gritty photos of old men, etc., but for someone who still thinks of herself as attractive she might wish it was more flattering. It is, of course a stylistic decision, but I would take the editing further here to soften and smooth her skin. Also, there is little differentiation between her hair and the background. A dim backlight would help create a border, and a hair light would help too.

 

[peteredwards]

Wow, love it and its very nice.