Vintage shoot

Granddad · Jan 14, 2017

One from a (free) vintage shoot I did with Kate this afternoon. I'm so out of it that I made far too many basic mistakes ... including forgetting to check my ISO and doing the whole shoot at 1600!

Converted to sepia, added grain etc. Very little PS required.

tirediron · Jan 14, 2017

Very nicely done GD; that could easily pass for a WWII-era image. I think you nailed the pose, lighting and processing here. My only [very minor] nit is that it looks like you may have done a little work around the brow ridge, just between the eyes. There's a little something odd there.

smoke665 · Jan 14, 2017

When you're good there are no mistakes, merely creative deviations. I like it.

Granddad · Jan 14, 2017

tirediron said:
Very nicely done GD; that could easily pass for a WWII-era image. I think you nailed the pose, lighting and processing here. My only [very minor] nit is that it looks like you may have done a little work around the brow ridge, just between the eyes. There's a little something odd there.

Actually John, no, I didn't touch that area, when I go back into LR and PS tomorrow I'll try to figure out where that came from. I didn't notice it till I saw it online. The only bit I really worked on was the crease shadow to the left of her nose, that bit was cut and pasted from another photo... glad you didn't spot that one!

Thanks Smoke!

tirediron · Jan 14, 2017

Could it be a make-up reflection?

Granddad · Jan 14, 2017

...OK got it! It's shine on the original, the conversion process made it look odd. I'll redo it tomorrow.

Derrel · Jan 14, 2017

Looks good in monochrome! The ISO 1600 might have helped more than hindered. I bet this set is good. If there is a minor nit I want to register, it would be that since this was ISO 1600, the blacks are very tricky...dropping off into deep, detail-free blackness in some spots in the hair, at least on this monitor. Might check the black point and make sure it is at 11 to 15 or so, maybe even 22.

The white of the eyes is also a bit greyish.

Granddad · Jan 14, 2017

Derrel said:
Looks good in monochrome! The ISO 1600 might have helped more than hindered. I bet this set is good. If there is a minor nit I want to register, it would be that since this was ISO 1600, the blacks are very tricky...dropping off into deep, detail-free blackness in some spots in the hair, at least on this monitor. Might check the black point and make sure it is at 11 to 15 or so, maybe even 22.

The white of the eyes is also a bit greyish.

Thanks Derrel, useful tips. When I go back in tomorrow I'll put that into effect. Right now my eyes are too tired to pay attention to details.

Rick50 · Jan 14, 2017

I like it and I don't think the ISO 1600 hurt either. I noticed the large pupils. OK, I admit it, I have watched too many Peter Hurly video's!

Granddad · Jan 15, 2017

Rick50 said:
I like it and I don't think the ISO 1600 hurt either. I noticed the large pupils. OK, I admit it, I have watched too many Peter Hurly video's!

I didn't notice the pupils at all; having looked at a few of Peter Hurley's head shots I see he likes tiny pupils. I just took a quick look towards the end of the shoot and Kate has big pupils throughout. Can you find a link to where Mr Hurley talks about that for me? I'd be interested to see what he has to say.

Derrel · Jan 15, 2017

Look in his video from B&H Photo, the recent one on YouTube, where Hurley discusses his new book, The Headshot.

Granddad · Jan 15, 2017

Thanks Derrel, I'll look that up when I get back from church. Meanwhile, here's a new version of the same shot with Portrait Pro improvements to skin and lighting and then colourised - not sure if it's early colour photo style or that hand painted black and white that they did.

I did the blacks as you suggested and whitened the eyes.

Derrel · Jan 15, 2017

WOW! So good it got the Winner badge. There is a tiny fiber on the white lapel that bothers me, and two similar small, dark lines below her necklace but otherwise-- WOW! This looks so vintage! I love the look of this.

Rick50 · Jan 15, 2017

The fixup looks really good. OK, GD, here is Peter Hurley critiquing head shots with Patrick Hall of Fstoppers. They discuss pupil size while looking at the girl with the finger nails at the 7:00 mark. Since I also use flash I put a small 55W fluorescent light (5500 Kelvin) behind the camera and it was enough light to shrink the pupil without messing with the shot. Another way is a window behind the camera.