Portrait Opinions

FattyMcJ · May 28, 2010

Hey all, I'm learning the fine art of PP on portraits and in doing so, used my daughter as a model.

C&C, good or bad, welcomed as always.

1)

or

2)

I'm specifically looking for C&C on the post processing done to her face/eyes/etc.

Which do you like better, why? What could make either of the photos more appealing? Did I go too far?

If you'd like to know what I did to each, ask away, but I won't bore you with that for now.

Thanks for looking!

taraj_00 · May 28, 2010

Well, I'm new to pping, so you can take this with a grain of salt... It seems to me like you might have went slightly overboard with the skin softening. I'm preferring the look of the skin in #1 and the eyes better in #2.

TiCoyote · May 28, 2010

I agree. The skin looks too brushed. The tones work better on the first. I think it's a bit rosier.

FattyMcJ · May 28, 2010

Alright, eyes from #2, skin from #1. Sounds good!

Anyone else want to chime in?

sjconner · May 28, 2010

I am working on this too. In both pictures, her cheeks and nose look too soft especially after your eye travels to her teeth (which look nice and sharp). Her eyes look nice and bright.

Susan

Johnboy2978 · May 28, 2010

FattyMcJ said:
Alright, eyes from #2, skin from #1. Sounds good!

I would agree with that. Why not post the original and have others take a stab at it and perhaps learn from their technique?

KmH · May 28, 2010

I would lighten the whites of the eyes a tad.

Next time I would get the camera and the light a little lower and a little closer to the camera so the nose shadow doesn't intersect the upper lip line, and so there is more light in the light side eye socket. Or, you could just use more on camera light to fill a bit more.

Next time have her lower her chin just a scoosh, enough so only the jaw line and the neck can be seen, hiding the underside of the chin.

The skin tone looks nicer, and more natural in #2. :thumbup:

FattyMcJ · May 28, 2010

Ahh yes, posing is for sure not my strong suit. I have no clue how to express to someone how I want them to pose, so I usually just happily snap away until they do something I like. It's haphazard, but I know of no other way. Any suggestions for conveying to a model what you want them to do?

It seems awkward to me. "Stick your head out, no put your chin down, tilt your head...not that much...ugh" Is usually how it goes for me lol

Good tips on the light & the eye whites, I hadn't thought of that. I actually used the on-board flash as fill for a kitchen window camera right. Not the best, but maybe I could have used -1.3EV instead of -2EV for the flash.

Thanks all for commenting!