Son #2...

tirediron · Jul 21, 2018

This is an image from a recent family session I did* and as I was going through, something struck me about the image, and I took it off to play with in PS for a while. This is the result and as it's a bit of a departure from my usual work, I'm interested in the thoughts of others...

As always, comments, critique & suggestions appreciated.

*Not posted in the Professional Gallery because this processing is completely different than anything applied to the set delivered to the clients

smoke665 · Jul 21, 2018

Good looking young man! Great pose and lighting on the face. The background concerns me, as does the slight haloing around the shoulders and head.

jcdeboever · Jul 21, 2018

it looks like film. I don't have any comment other than @limr wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers...

tirediron · Jul 21, 2018

smoke665 said:
Good looking young man! Great pose and lighting on the face. The background concerns me, as does the slight haloing around the shoulders and head.

The background is an element out of my control (and it looks quite nice in the colour images); the haloing... missed that. I'll have to take another crack at it! Thanks!

jcdeboever said:
it looks like film. I don't have any comment other than @limr wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers...

Thanks and... no comment!

SquarePeg · Jul 21, 2018

I like it. Nice eye contact makes this very engaging. It’s a little noisy but not overly so. Not a fan of his shirt choice, very distracting with the bright white and black stripes in an otherwise “gray” photo.

Derrel · Jul 21, 2018

I see the haloing, but unlike the majority of photo enthusiasts, often times haloing does not bother me much. I think the most pressing need is a slight lightening up of the hair...too dense in the blacks on the hair on the top of his head. I think the heavy grain-like look is okay. As SquarePeg points out, that striping on his shirt...OMG...an awful shirt for photos. He is a very handsome young man, for sure.

smoke665 · Jul 21, 2018

tirediron said:
The background is an element out of my control (and it looks quite nice in the colour images); the haloing... missed that. I'll have to take another crack at it! Thanks!

With a digital image in Ps nothing is ever "totally" out of your control, background or shirt :anonymous:

Maybe burn down the left background just a bit or even use the Radial filter to lock the face and adjust everything else down?? Might help to "kill the stripes".

tirediron · Jul 21, 2018

smoke665 said:
tirediron said:

The background is an element out of my control (and it looks quite nice in the colour images); the haloing... missed that. I'll have to take another crack at it! Thanks!

Click to expand...

With a digital image in Ps nothing is ever "totally" out of your control, background or shirt Maybe burn down the left background just a bit or even use the Radial filter to lock the face and adjust everything else down?? Might help to "kill the stripes".

Point taken... i meant, posing them in front of that background was what the family wanted... I'm working on an improved version... stand by!

tirediron · Jul 21, 2018

Take 2:

Jeff15 · Jul 21, 2018

Nice shot.......

smoke665 · Jul 21, 2018

tirediron said:
Take 2:

Like Take 2 better than 1. Right side of the image looks great. Just personal feel, but the left background could still go down a tad and did you perhaps burn in the halo, just a little to much where marked or what am I seeing there?

jcdeboever · Jul 21, 2018

Tough digital crowd. Y'all are tripping. The original image is fine. It has a great deal of emotion, a feeling of non sterile, non digital imagery. If I were the artist, I would look at this as a road to future work and incorporate it. This work has a unique render and line draw. All your other work is great but doesn't have the qualities of this image. You may want to spend time getting to know your veteran sitters better because this image is dreamy.

tirediron · Jul 21, 2018

smoke665 said:
tirediron said:

Take 2:

Click to expand...

Like Take 2 better than 1. Right side of the image looks great. Just personal feel, but the left background could still go down a tad and did you perhaps burn in the halo, just a little to much where marked or what am I seeing there?

View attachment 160773

Ouch!

I never said this stuff was my strong suit! That... and I need to actually put some time into it. I almost never "turn" an image into something it wasn't envisioned for when shooting, so....

tirediron · Jul 21, 2018

jcdeboever said:
Tough digital crowd. Y'all are tripping. The original image is fine. It has a great deal of emotion, a feeling of non sterile, non digital imagery. If I were the artist, I would look at this as a road to future work and incorporate it. This work has a unique render and line draw. All your other work is great but doesn't have the qualities of this image. You may want to spend time getting to know your veteran sitters better because this image is dreamy.

Thanks JC! I appreciate the comments, but the the critique is fair and justified. The real question is, would anyone outside of an experienced photographer/digital artist notice any of that? Likely not...