Portrait - need critique on PP!

andrew99 · Jul 10, 2008

What do you think of the photoshop work on this? Too much? Any tips/comments/suggestions greatly appreciated!

tirediron · Jul 10, 2008

Very definitely too much in my opinion. It give the impression of a flash set about two stops too high. It also appears rather artificial because the the rest of the image is so dark. Could you post the original for comparison?

Kegger · Jul 10, 2008

No need to push the clarity slide so far right. You can see the halo where the sharpening pull the subject away from the background too much.

Maybe a little bump in brightness and some contrast would work.

AmberBella · Jul 10, 2008

It looks like HDR? I don't love it in many portraits because it can make the subject look greasy.

Alpha · Jul 10, 2008

Way too much USM.

tinfish · Jul 10, 2008

Kind of a dave hill look. Maybe it is a bit much, but I am a fan of the style.

lia.j.wu · Jul 10, 2008

I also get the feeling that this is a HDR image.

I actually like the effect, but that's my personal preference.

andrew99 · Jul 10, 2008

Thanks for all the comments! I appreciate the negative ones, since it helps me improve. Also, I was working on this photo for so long, you kind of lose perspective after a while, although I still like the effect, I think it just needs to be refined a bit.

The Clarity setting was low in Camera Raw.. The effect was done manually in PS with dodging and burning, many times over, and it is not HDR. I was going for a cartoony, fake look. Sort of inspired by Andrzej Dragan.

For comparison, here is a screen shot of my Camera Raw settings. This is the image as it was when I imported it into Photoshop and started working on it. Sorry for the large image, I didn't shrink it so that you can see the controls clearly.

Thanks again for the comments, keep them coming!

JCleveland · Jul 11, 2008

I actually kinda like it

IllegalDamage · Jul 11, 2008

Compared to the original picture I think it looks alot better, however you should lighten up on the strength of your burning and dodging. Besides over-strengthening the tools i think you did a good job

Katz · Jul 12, 2008

hehe, he looks like James Bond in the first one you posted!

andrew99 · Jul 12, 2008

Thanks guys!

The original picture was not great .. more of a snapshot with the on-camera flash. This photo is from his wedding, so I would like to get something cool out of it and print it large for him. I'm also doing some more traditional photos, but he had a pro photographer, so I'm trying to go for something different here. I used a wide angle lens, and I like the perspective distortion, which I think works with the surreal over-processed look. Anyway, I'm still working on it, I'll post it again when I'm finished!