Re-Edit based on your feedback

[SoulfulRecover]

After:


Before:



different crop, some additional touch up and slight contrast boost. Picked up a wacom intous and its a blast to work with just takes a little getting use to.

 

[timor]

Did you remove the original presentation ? It will be good to have it for comparison.

 

[SoulfulRecover]

Did you remove the original presentation ? It will be good to have it for comparison.

i did but ill put it up

 

[ntexascardfan]

My untrained eye sees improved detail in the lips and in the eyes.

 

[SoulfulRecover]

My untrained eye sees improved detail in the lips and in the eyes.

I noticed that as well. I think it may be because the before photo is hosted through photobucket. it should have more clarity to it than what is showing up

 

[ronlane]

Soulful, I was on flickr and saw the other portraits of this lady. I like the newest one on there best. Seems way better than this one.

 

[SoulfulRecover]

Soulful, I was on flickr and saw the other portraits of this lady. I like the newest one on there best. Seems way better than this one.

this one?


Untitled by Shutter_Inc., on Flickr

 

[ronlane]

Yes

 

[SoulfulRecover]

I dug around through some old files to practice using the Wacom on and came across this one. Not sure why I didnt like it back then or over looked it, but I was pleased with how it came out. Im glad you like it and thanks for looking at my flickr! I need to start using it more again.

 

[Derrel]

There was something about the original crop, with the space above her head and to the left, and how low that placed her eyes, so I took a large file of it into Lightroom, and cropped it to give a different "feel". I made a few minor adjustments to brightness and contrast, using the curves tool and exposure adjustment.

Here's my interpretation of your shot:



WHat I see is that the eyes are looking back, opposite the direction of the face,nose and chin. To me, this crop extracts the essential items of the original scene, and does away with the "low eye placement", which I found frankly, unflattering in the original framing.

 

[SoulfulRecover]

I like your edit a lot and you do have a point about the eye placement. I have a hard time cropping through the head of subjects so I typically try to avoid it. Just some weird personal thing that I should probably get over. Did you lighten the eyes as well?

 

[Derrel]

I normally try to avoid accidentally lopping off the top of a person's head, but if it's a deliberate choice, it can be done. It's a matter of intention. I did not specifically lighten up the eyes, like with a dodge or adjustment brush, no. I just made a few "global" exposure changes, and I noticed that it changed the facial skin tone, and brought it "down" to a bit lower contrast point. I made a very,very,very tiny adjustment to the curves, but it made a significant change in how bright the eyes turned out.

I REALLY like the technical quality on your headshots: f/7.1 for the win!!!! (I love f/7.1 for headshots!)