Portrait Black&White (C&C please)

[PhotoJones]

So this is a second photo from my first portrait photoshoot. Any comments or critiques? Thanks for looking!

 

[tdiprincess]

I definitely like the B&W...

 

[Tulsa]

Very harsh shadows, way too much going on in the background...

 

[SilverAWD]

Very harsh shadows, way too much going on in the background...

Agreed. Blur out the background a little.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Nice tonality. Crisp.
However, the guys shirt is too similar to the tone of the trees, so his shoulders kinda blend in.

The biggest issue I have though is the girls face being framed byt the brick pillars. I think it is being visually squashed by the verticals. I think her nose gets translated as a brick, because there is brick of the same shade in right in front of it, and three bricks up from it.

I like the poses. Maybe a little turn of her face towards the camera. The guy has a nice side profile here.

 

[Tulsa]

Nice tonality. Crisp.
However, the guys shirt is too similar to the tone of the trees, so his shoulders kinda blend in.

The biggest issue I have though is the girls face being framed byt the brick pillars. I think it is being visually squashed by the verticals. I think her nose gets translated as a brick, because there is brick of the same shade in right in front of it, and three bricks up from it.

I like the poses. Maybe a little turn of her face towards the camera. The guy has a nice side profile here.

I felt my C&C was short and vague, but you did the complete opposite! And I agree with Bitter.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I played with this in Photoshop, if PhotoJones would give me permission to post.
It addresses many of the issues, and makes for a pretty nice image.

 

[PhotoJones]

Thanks everyone for the critiques and comments, helps me work on some things. Also, this was a self portrait, that's my girlfriend and I. Thanks again!

I played with this in Photoshop, if PhotoJones would give me permission to post.
It addresses many of the issues, and makes for a pretty nice image.

Yes, please post, I'd love to see it! Thanks for your informative critique as well.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

TahDah!

I selected the very back background, created a new layer and pasted it. Then used "blur more" several times. A lot of times, really. Then I selected each brick pillar, and blurred each one progressively less. I did some burning around her nose, and the other similar colored bricks, to help deperate them. I did some more burning on the left side of her arm as well, for the same reason. Oh, I also darkened the trees, again, to seperate your shirt from them. I also added on to the image by cloning, to the right, to give a little more balance. I got carried away with the bricks by her arm.
I guess I created a hill on the right for no other reason than I should be asleep right now.

How you like? :mrgreen: