Portrait of my daughter

revenater · May 19, 2012

C&C please

tirediron · May 19, 2012

C&C per req:

Not bad; you did a nice job dealing the with extreme dynamic range presented by her black and white top. What I would suggest is using an off-camera flash or a reflector camera right to induce some catch-lights and reduce the 'racoon eyes' espeically her left eye. I would also try cropping some off of one side to move her just a little farther off of centre.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

revenater · May 19, 2012

This was the original, is it better?

tirediron · May 19, 2012

I would say that the crop is definitely better; I think you stand to take even a little more off of one side.

Rebekah5280 · May 19, 2012

This picture has TONS of potential! You shot when the light was gorgeous (golden hour). Your edit is rather cool for my taste. I warmed my version up a bit. I also cropped it slightly different to get rid of so much space all around her.

Next time try using a reflector on the shadowy side to soften the shadows (specifically around the eyes to bring them out of the darkness). You could have also had her turn more toward the light which, I think, would have been better to bathe her in that beautiful golden light.

revenater · May 19, 2012

Thank you very much I will remember that. I am still learning but I really appreciate the advice.

Derrel · May 19, 2012

I shrunk the original SOOC JPEG down to 1200 pixels on the short axis, then used the curves tool a bit to darken it, and make it look closer to twilight time. I then used Sadown/Highlight to lighten the shadows a bit, then re-curved it. I had to use the dodge tool to lighten her eyes a bit, and also dodged the shadowy part of her hair on the left hand side of the frame. I set the PPI to 240 or 300 PPI, so you could make a small print, and assigned an sRGB profile to it so it'd look right on the web in a Windows browser. I also used Selective Color to make the background green shade look a bit different. I HAD done a brief C&C and then...it disappeared, along with the rest of this post, which I just had to re-type...I agree with the above comment--a reflector would have been nice, as would have been turning her more toward that lovely golden light!!!

revenater · May 19, 2012

I currently dont have a reflector but I guess I need to get one. Thank you for the advice

Granddad · May 20, 2012

When it comes to camera gear, a reflector costs peanuts. The problem with the larger child blanket sized reflectors is figuring out how to get them folded up and back into that dinner plate sized bag! :lmao: ... I had to go to Youtube to work that one out!

gopal · May 20, 2012

I feel that the positive space is to be given where a person's body faces...I liked Rebekah's verson of cropping...but do not agree to be much of yellow. In original they are not that much golden. First pic skin tones r nice. As original as they are. tfs.

Rebekah5280 · May 20, 2012

BTW: I just white balanced using a dropper on the white on her shirt.

Kerbouchard · May 20, 2012

Out of all the edits, I think I prefer the crop in your original. Irregardless, no matter how you crop it, this photo will never work. Her left shoulder needs to be further back and her closest shoulder needs to be a bit lower.

Basically, you want her shoulders at closer to a 45 degree angle instead of straight to the camera. The fact that the closest shoulder is higher than the further is another point of imbalance.

It's not the crop that makes this shot akward. It's the pose.

Personally, I would have had her rotate her body to the right at about a 45 degree angle and then had her bring her head back towards the light a bit further than the camera axis and then brought her eyes back to the camera. In that case, I would also change the framing to match her pose.

revenater · May 20, 2012

Thank you I will remember that

michael9000000 · May 22, 2012

Rebekah5280 said:
This picture has TONS of potential! You shot when the light was gorgeous (golden hour). Your edit is rather cool for my taste. I warmed my version up a bit. I also cropped it slightly different to get rid of so much space all around her.

View attachment 9086

Next time try using a reflector on the shadowy side to soften the shadows (specifically around the eyes to bring them out of the darkness). You could have also had her turn more toward the light which, I think, would have been better to bathe her in that beautiful golden light.

This edit is the best of them all, in my humble opinion. Well done!