Same Young Lady, Different Portrairt

[ebyelyakov]

Hi All,

I am beyond any thanks for all the feedback I got on the previous submission from a recent TFP and, having considered awesome feedback I got, here is another image. It is at 60% compression so there are artifacts, but hopefully is representative to attract another dose of constructive criticism.

 

[tirediron]

Very nice; I really like your lighting, her expression, etc. Looking at the skin in the large version, it looks a little... odd, sort of like a heavy-handed adjustment brush has been applied in some areas and not others. Is this perhaps a make-up issue?

 

[ebyelyakov]

Thank You.

Not sure. Here is a snip I took (not colour managed just whatever Windows read out of the monitor) - hope it gives a clue.

 

[Jeff1547 47]

Good shot......

 

[ebyelyakov]

Very nice; I really like your lighting, her expression, etc. Looking at the skin in the large version, it looks a little... odd, sort of like a heavy-handed adjustment brush has been applied in some areas and not others. Is this perhaps a make-up issue?

Thank You! Which areas?

I tried adding a snip straight out of PS but it didn't work. I generally work via channels and global adjustments, trying to revert to masking only when I'm lazy, but with this one I didn't cheat much. But, since it has triggered your internal guard, I must have failed.

 

[zombiesniper112 12]

I like the image. Well shot.

The post processing does look a little overdone on some of the skin texture. It may just be her skin/makeup but the cheeks, forehead and around the inner skin on the eyes almost look like a frequency separation layer has been applied

 

[ebyelyakov]

I like the image. Well shot.

The post processing does look a little overdone on some of the skin texture. It may just be her skin/makeup but the cheeks, forehead and around the inner skin on the eyes almost look like a frequency separation layer has been applied

No FS used but agree, I might have overused the High Pass
Thank You.

 

[smoke665]

I also like the shot, great subject, only two negatives. First is maybe some slight adjustment to lights for better modeling on the nose, cheeks and cheekbones, to define them. Second on my small screen I'm detecting possible oversharpening on the eyes and lashes, compared to lips.

 

[ebyelyakov]

Here is SOOC. Since I

I also like the shot, great subject, only two negatives. First is maybe some slight adjustment to lights for better modeling on the nose, cheeks and cheekbones, to define them. Second on my small screen I'm detecting possible oversharpening on the eyes and lashes, compared to lips.

Thank You! I've been improvising around Peter Hurley lightning setup and somehow, indeed, the features come rather flat.
Dial down sharpening -- noted!

 

[smoke665]

Dial down sharpening -- noted

Maybe, but just as important is uniformity of features.

 

[Derrel]

I do not see any straight out of camera version of the image. I think this is a much better portrait of her than the prior one.

 

[ebyelyakov]

@Derrel
Since you asked

 

[Derrel]

The lighting on her hair on her right side is excellent. I really do not see much that needs retouching except for a few skin blemishes. I am however one of those people who likes a more natural / unretouched look.

 

[smoke665]

Okay, looking at this on my big screen I can see the problem areas a little more clearly. As Derrel mentioned above, sometimes it doesn't pay to try to improve on something that is already good. The young lady was blessed with great facial structure and lovely skin. Just my own way, but I strive to use lighting and camera to capture as much as possible in the most pleasing way for the subject.

First of the SOOC image is underexposed. Yes you can recover a lot in digital but everything comes with a price and having a better exposure gives you a leg up on the processing. This is the histogram from you SOOC, there's barely any data in the midtones and nothing in the highlights..

Next is lighting placement, IMO both your key and fill are to low, ideally I'd have the eye highlights in the upper quadrant. Moving the lights higher would give the added benefit of defining those beautiful cheek bones. Might want to move your key a little more on camera axis, and dial down the fill just a tad, and put a little more distance between her and the background. With that beautiful hair, a kicker would really set it off.

As you indicate edits are okay, I took the liberty of incorporating a few of the suggestion above on the "less is more" route. Letting Lr do most of it automatically including a WB adjustment, then refining what it did to come up with this. This includes a 1-1/4 stop increase in exposure.

 

[Derrel]

Smoke,
Your edit looks pretty good to me. Nice and natural, avoiding the over-edited or oversharpened or over-smooth looks.