portrait c+c please

[GeorgieGirl]

It appears to me with both photos you have presented that you are working on a theme/technique that is a style for you. I see what you accomplished in your first photo with the selective colorization and the muting of all the other colors down to about a pinkish tone. I see the same what I am going to call muddy-ing in this one. I like the composition of this second one better than the first, I'm not a fan of the colorization and I can't say why other than I don't think it is enhancing your wife in either shot. Bur for the second one, I'd try some selective colorization on her lips for fun. I did like the blue of the glasses on the first.

So my question to you is what is it that you are going for with your style of processing? Are you happy with the base colors that you have created, and why? And how do you want your photos to look when you are done with them...do you think you are there with it.

 

[halestorm]

It appears to me with both photos you have presented that you are working on a theme/technique that is a style for you. I see what you accomplished in your first photo with the selective colorization and the muting of all the other colors down to about a pinkish tone. I see the same what I am going to call muddy-ing in this one. I like the composition of this second one better than the first, I'm not a fan of the colorization and I can't say why other than I don't think it is enhancing your wife in either shot. Bur for the second one, I'd try some selective colorization on her lips for fun. I did like the blue of the glasses on the first.

So my question to you is what is it that you are going for with your style of processing? Are you happy with the base colors that you have created, and why? And how do you want your photos to look when you are done with them...do you think you are there with it.

I feel I'm still not happy with the result I may give up on this shot altogether. I'm trying to get a grasp on the whole portrait thing and failing thus far. I like portraits that really show the personality of the subject but that are also very raw. And yes I do have a certain style that just comes out naturally when I edit photos and so far nobody really likes them so I should probably change that.

p.s. the composition hasn't changed between the first and second photo. So I'm not sure what you meant there. Maybe you could elaborate.

 

[Neiby]

So I took what you guys said and gave the photo another try I'm not going to get angry when you have negative things to say about it so please tell me what you think

This is my favorite of the versions posted, so far. I'm a total noob, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. Maybe to get a happy medium between this and the original darker vibe, you could try lowering the brightness or knocking down the exposure just a tiny bit and then increase the contrast a smidge. This would actually kind of work as a black and white pic, I think.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

For the first photo I was referring to the one with your wife on the bench with the blue glasses. Keep at it with your efforts, you can only get better!

 

[halestorm]

I tried b&w but her hair got lost in the background and I didn't like it "shrug".

 

[halestorm]

For the first photo I was referring to the one with your wife on the bench with the blue glasses. Keep at it with your efforts, you can only get better!

oh ok that makes sense yeah i didnt really like that shot. Wish I didnt post LOL

 

[BNHPhotography]

I tried b&w but her hair got lost in the background and I didn't like it "shrug".

You should be able to crank the reds up on your pp software and make her hair stand out from the background. I would give it a shot but im at work, blah!! It gets in the way of everything Haha!

 

[halestorm]

I tried b&w but her hair got lost in the background and I didn't like it "shrug".

You should be able to crank the reds up on your pp software and make her hair stand out from the background. I would give it a shot but im at work, blah!! It gets in the way of everything Haha!

I'll try that right now and post thanks.

 

[jritz]

^Careful with just cranking the reds, it will bring out reds in her face and other parts of her skin. Create a mask around her hair and then do an adjustment on just the selection if you really want to pump just the reds in her hair.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

All of you are right and I was wrong I am very sorry for these posts and wish nothing more than to take it all back. I am afraid I will never be taken serious again on this forum which is regrettable because I've looked around and this is the largest photo forum on the interwebs. So to the traveler I am very sorry I know you were just trying to help and I dont think your photography sucks. Its actually quite good. I know I need to take all of your critiques seriously so that I can become a better photographer.

Bygones!


So, my OPINION, is to stop working on this image.

For one, I hate talking to people wearing sunglasses, because you can't see their eyes.
You can't "connect" with them.

I am not saying you shouldn't take pictures of people wearing sunglasses. I think they should be looking a little more towards the camera than this image, and including some more of the person and surroundings to really connect. Understand this advice is not "absolute". Yes, closeups can work. Personally, this image, even the second one, give me no feeling about this woman. THAT'S what makes an image more successful. Not style, not effects. They can enhance what is going on, but they don't create it.

Check out this thread: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/people-photography/252715-new-zealand-not-just-landscapes.html

Raw, gritty...

How powerful is the first image?
The second image...angle aside...can you connect with this guy? Does the image give you enough information about him that you can react?

Now look at your pictures.

 

[halestorm]

So I tried B&W but I dont know.

 

[halestorm]

All of you are right and I was wrong I am very sorry for these posts and wish nothing more than to take it all back. I am afraid I will never be taken serious again on this forum which is regrettable because I've looked around and this is the largest photo forum on the interwebs. So to the traveler I am very sorry I know you were just trying to help and I dont think your photography sucks. Its actually quite good. I know I need to take all of your critiques seriously so that I can become a better photographer.

Bygones!


So, my OPINION, is to stop working on this image.

For one, I hate talking to people wearing sunglasses, because you can't see their eyes.
You can't "connect" with them.

I am not saying you shouldn't take pictures of people wearing sunglasses. I think they should be looking a little more towards the camera than this image, and including some more of the person and surroundings to really connect. Understand this advice is not "absolute". Yes, closeups can work. Personally, this image, even the second one, give me no feeling about this woman. THAT'S what makes an image more successful. Not style, not effects. They can enhance what is going on, but they don't create it.

Check out this thread: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/people-photography/252715-new-zealand-not-just-landscapes.html

Raw, gritty...

How powerful is the first image?
The second image...angle aside...can you connect with this guy? Does the image give you enough information about him that you can react?

Now look at your pictures.

I think you are right I should quit on this shot. Also I have already seen that thread and it is amazing. I really need a faster lens I think maybe a 80mm f1.8. I feel I could do much better portraiture with a faster lens. Am i wrong?

P.S. I agree about the eyes. I wanted her to take of the shades but she had been wearing them all day and had funny dents in her nose from them so decided to try something different.

 

[Neiby]

I'm at work, so I only had GIMP, which I don't really use, but here is an attempt at what I was talking about. All I did was very slightly bump up the contrast, add a little sharpening, and then a super tiny amount of blur to help with noise. I wasn't able to get GIMPs speckle noise tool to work well.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Did you just convert to greyscale, or did you play with the color sliders so you could seperate the greens from the reds?

 

[Neiby]

Ah, I like your B&W version better than mine. Mine came out kind of noisy and the contrast still isn't right. I like the way your version turned out. It's got a cool vibe to it.