Portraits from home studio for C&C.

[Tight Knot]

Hi all,

These are some portraits that I shot in my home studio. I used 1 - 24" x 30" softbox to the camera left, between 45 and 90 degrees (depending on the shot) from the subjects, with a reflector on the camera right, right next to the subjects at different angles.

Looking for C&C please, thanks.

Bruce

 

[MLeeK]

You've got too many to give thorough feedback on.
The first 3 the skin tones are muddy, like you are using the clarity slider or something on them. It may just be me, but skin tones in several of these seem a bit jaundiced.
Compositions all look as if you are really squeezed for space. Fine for practicing, but what if you needed to print
I like the shadowing in the first hat photo and I love the grin in the 5th one.

 

[Tight Knot]

You've got too many to give thorough feedback on.
The first 3 the skin tones are muddy, like you are using the clarity slider or something on them. It may just be me, but skin tones in several of these seem a bit jaundiced.
Compositions all look as if you are really squeezed for space. Fine for practicing, but what if you needed to print
I like the shadowing in the first hat photo and I love the grin in the 5th one.

Hi MLeeK,

Thanks for the input.

Not sure I understand hat you mean by muddy. Can you be more specific?
The skin tone of most of these people is more of an olive skin colour. Could that be the jaundiced look? I haven't calibrated my monitor in +- 4 months, but I don't think it can be that off (could be wrong though).
I specifically cropped most of the images tighter, as I usually like less empty space around the subjects. The images SOC, do have more space around them.
Thanks for the compliments on hat 1 and 5 - grin.
How do you find the exposure and sharpness in general?
Unfortunately, I have quite a bad vision issue from kerataconis, and am trying to put together the money for an operation. Until then I do the best I can with exposure, clarity and sharpness.

 

[MLeeK]

Exposure on most of them is pretty good. A little to the darker side on a few, but not bad. Your focus looks great.
Muddy... How do I explain... I guess it's almost as if it were a dirty face?
I kind of assumed they were olive toned and that can be tough. I am feeling a bit yellowy here, but I suppose that could be me. Cropping is great, but think about if you put these in frames. They would feel REALLY crowded in. When it crops off part of the essential image it feels off.

 

[paigew]

muddy-highlights are not bright enough, shadows are not dark enough. I think they are underexposed and yes, too yellow

 

[Tight Knot]

Exposure on most of them is pretty good. A little to the darker side on a few, but not bad. Your focus looks great.
Muddy... How do I explain... I guess it's almost as if it were a dirty face?
I kind of assumed they were olive toned and that can be tough. I am feeling a bit yellowy here, but I suppose that could be me. Cropping is great, but think about if you put these in frames. They would feel REALLY crowded in. When it crops off part of the essential image it feels off.

Hi MLeeK,

I just re-calibrated my monitor again, and everything does seem to have a slight yellow tint. I will have to reset the white balance on the raw images again, and see what happens.
The muddiness still has me confused. I did play with the highlights, shadows and clarity in PS Raw, but that was to bring out the shadows that I felt were to dark. Maybe I overdid it.
Once I'm re-setting the WB, I'll check that also.
I hear your point about the cropping being too tight if they are framed. So, I guess it's back to the drawing board for me on these shots. I'm sure they just need a little bit more tweaking.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[Tight Knot]

muddy-highlights are not bright enough, shadows are not dark enough. I think they are underexposed and yes, too yellow

Hi paigew,

Based on your definition of muddiness, would adding contrast help?
How underexposed do you think they are? and see above about my re-calibration, vis-a-vis the Yellow.

 

[MLeeK]

Exposure on most of them is pretty good. A little to the darker side on a few, but not bad. Your focus looks great.
Muddy... How do I explain... I guess it's almost as if it were a dirty face?
I kind of assumed they were olive toned and that can be tough. I am feeling a bit yellowy here, but I suppose that could be me. Cropping is great, but think about if you put these in frames. They would feel REALLY crowded in. When it crops off part of the essential image it feels off.

Hi MLeeK,

I just re-calibrated my monitor again, and everything does seem to have a slight yellow tint. I will have to reset the white balance on the raw images again, and see what happens.
The muddiness still has me confused. I did play with the highlights, shadows and clarity in PS Raw, but that was to bring out the shadows that I felt were to dark. Maybe I overdid it.
Once I'm re-setting the WB, I'll check that also.
I hear your point about the cropping being too tight if they are framed. So, I guess it's back to the drawing board for me on these shots. I'm sure they just need a little bit more tweaking.

Thanks again for the input.

If you have any kind of daylight coming into your room you really should make sure you recalibrate every few weeks. As the sun moves through the seasons the light changes and the way you see your monitor will change too.
My software is set to remind me to re-calibrate every 2 weeks. It doesn't usually need to be reset at that point, but if I do it I know I haven't forgotten it for a month or two and all of a sudden things are different.
Don't forget to be aware of the time of day you are editing if you are in a windowed room. If I edit during the day I only have one window that has an effect on me and I am sure to turn on a lamp I have for the sole purpose of overpowering that window-trying to keep my room lighting consistent. I do see a difference still, but I *try* to be mindful of it using my histogram to guide me as well as sampling to be sure my skin tones are where they should be a few times here and there.

 

[Tight Knot]

Exposure on most of them is pretty good. A little to the darker side on a few, but not bad. Your focus looks great.
Muddy... How do I explain... I guess it's almost as if it were a dirty face?
I kind of assumed they were olive toned and that can be tough. I am feeling a bit yellowy here, but I suppose that could be me. Cropping is great, but think about if you put these in frames. They would feel REALLY crowded in. When it crops off part of the essential image it feels off.

Hi MLeeK,

I just re-calibrated my monitor again, and everything does seem to have a slight yellow tint. I will have to reset the white balance on the raw images again, and see what happens.
The muddiness still has me confused. I did play with the highlights, shadows and clarity in PS Raw, but that was to bring out the shadows that I felt were to dark. Maybe I overdid it.
Once I'm re-setting the WB, I'll check that also.
I hear your point about the cropping being too tight if they are framed. So, I guess it's back to the drawing board for me on these shots. I'm sure they just need a little bit more tweaking.

Thanks again for the input.

If you have any kind of daylight coming into your room you really should make sure you recalibrate every few weeks. As the sun moves through the seasons the light changes and the way you see your monitor will change too.
My software is set to remind me to re-calibrate every 2 weeks. It doesn't usually need to be reset at that point, but if I do it I know I haven't forgotten it for a month or two and all of a sudden things are different.
Don't forget to be aware of the time of day you are editing if you are in a windowed room. If I edit during the day I only have one window that has an effect on me and I am sure to turn on a lamp I have for the sole purpose of overpowering that window-trying to keep my room lighting consistent. I do see a difference still, but I *try* to be mindful of it using my histogram to guide me as well as sampling to be sure my skin tones are where they should be a few times here and there.

I usually recheck the calibration once a month (using Spyder 3 Pro), but was out of the country for just over 3 months, so no calibration possible while away.

 

[Tight Knot]

Are these any better?

Thanks.

 

[MLeeK]

your skin tones are definitely more olive in the new edits. Still very muddy looking. Are you using the clarity slider in LR/ACR?

 

[Tight Knot]

your skin tones are definitely more olive in the new edits. Still very muddy looking. Are you using the clarity slider in LR/ACR?

I used the clarity slider (PS6) to give more contrast. Can I upload an image in RAW for you to show me how you would edit? I'm still not getting the whole muddy thing. If so, choose an image that you think has the greatest issue. If not, don't worry, I appreciate the advice.

 

[MLeeK]

It's giving you a muddy look. The clarity slider is something you should use REALLY sparingly. It increases mid tone contrast and that's what is giving you the muddy/dirty faced look on your subjects.
Upload a raw. I'd like to play if you don't mind.

 

[Tight Knot]

It's giving you a muddy look. The clarity slider is something you should use REALLY sparingly. It increases mid tone contrast and that's what is giving you the muddy/dirty faced look on your subjects.
Upload a raw. I'd like to play if you don't mind.

I hear. Any specific one you want to play with?

 

[MLeeK]

Either the great grin or the 3 kids is good.