Self Portrait | Second attempt

[Ironlegs]

I tried to go for sort of "badass" look here, i think it worked better in B&W than in colors.
Regarding lighting, i had window infront of me and little light on the floor pointing towards my eyes.
I dont know much about studio work, so any help will be appreciated.
Is the picture atleast facebook-worthy ?

Self portrait ! by Ironlegs Photography, on Flickr

 

[Raj_55555]

I like it.. but I don't think it looks badass, sorry! The only thing that comes to my mind against the pic is that your face looks too smooth. It could be that your skin is just like that, but it was the first thought I had. Keep in mind that I don't do portraits so consider that before taking my word for any of it..

 

[Ironlegs]

thats why i wrote "badass" i am not good at posing lol... it took around 40 pictures to get something that i atleast liked. You are right about the face... i added some clarity to the whole image and faces generally look bad with a lot of clarity so i brought it down on my face, might be that. Is it too bad though ?

 

[tirediron]

Definitely superior to 99.9999% of the facebook "selfies" (Gawd, I HATE that "word") out there. I like the lighting and monochrome conversion. The only minor nit I have is the positioning of your right thumb; I wish it wasn't over your hair, but that's pretty tough to nail when you're shooting yourself.

 

[Derrel]

I keep going to the thong and that chick's ass, and not looking at you... Is this awful? Am I a bad person???

 

[tirediron]

...Am I a bad person???

Of course you are, but in this case that's a totally separate discussion!










:greenpbl:

 

[Ironlegs]

So the portrait is bad cause i have a t-shirt that is distracting ?

Thank you tirediron for your feedback. The lighting part was funniest, if you saw my setup, you would laugh.

 

[Trever1t]

I don't think we're seeing any effect from the light on the floor (and good thing for that), it's most likely way less light than the window is emitting. I think the composition is interesting, perhaps I'd look at adding contrast, making more 'dark' in nature (not less light) adding in some clarity to give it some grunge effect.

 

[Ironlegs]

The light on the floor was mostly used for the catchlight in eye ! I think it worked quite well though. You are right, the light emitted from window was a LOT more powerful than the light on the floor.

 

[JustJazzie]

Awesome try! Definitely face book worthy. I think my main gripe has already been mentioned- I wish your hand wasn't covering your face. Cant wait to see what you come up with next!

 

[Ironlegs]

Awesome try! Definitely face book worthy. I think my main gripe has already been mentioned- I wish your hand wasn't covering your face. Cant wait to see what you come up with next!

Thanks a lot !

Here is the more grungy version, not sure about it though !

Look at me ! by Ironlegs Photography, on Flickr

 

[Derrel]

Your eye liner looks a bit haphazard to me. Maybe retouch it a bit? I dunno...the thumb over head overlap--I have no issue with that whatsoever. To me, the overlapping of the thumb adds a three-dimensional depth cue. I just got back from a shoot down by the Columbia River, in blinding sunlight off the water, my eyes feel like they are bleeding, so they might be playing tricks on me, but in the grunge-look image posted above, your nose and the bridge of the nose have a kind of odd, white, pasty-looking tone to the skin. I might go wayyyyyyy over the top on this grunge-like effect, and go to some kind of a preset look, like Matt K's Lightroom Killer Tips' "Ultimate Fighter" look, medium or strong, and realllllly make it look grunge. The grunge effect looks pretty good on the hands and the one arm, but again, your nose just looks pasty, for lack of another word. I agree with you not being quite sure about the grunge version; it *is* I think, a step in the right direction, it seems to coordinate well with your expression, the clothes you have on, and the hand gestures, but I'm not 100 percent sure if it's the exact right processing look for this shot.

As far as the lighting setup used for this: it might have been ghetto, but it looks VERY good in terms of results. The eye catchlights, nose shadow, and the shodows from your head and arm show that you were close to the wall or whatever, and it adds a good 3-D shadow effect , that's subtle, yet "there". REALLY good lighting work, I think, no matter HOW you achieved it!

 

[Ironlegs]

Thanks for your very long feedback , yeah window does its job !!! Seems like i will have to completely REDO the picture tomorrow since it has some potential i think, got to agree about too much softening on skin.

 

[snerd]

Not too bad at all. I tried my hand at an edit, but you're set to photos are not okay to edit.

 

[darkchild]

I don't think your face expression is doing much to give this the "bad ass" look. Also, I agree with Raj on your face looking really smooth. I can't tell if your face is just really smooth or if you did something to give it that look. I have never attempted to take a self portrait though so don't take my word for it.