DSS16 portrait [cross post from technique]

cmorganphotography

I don't know where to go with the pp. Any ideas and suggestions welcome.

jeffreaux2

It appears that the foreground could use a boost in exposure.....as even the snow behind him is quite grey. The sky......though...is blown out pretty bad and looks as if it will need to be replaced. If you could get some well exposed sky shots together to choose one from would be the first step. Keep in mind that with the backgroud out of focus, you dont want the replacement sky to be sharp and in focus. It will surely look fakey. Just be sure its not blown.

Swartzy

Try running a couple gradient filters/masking the subject, lower opacity of brush to give the bg blown out sky a bit of color/depth. Not that you'll make it a sky per se but will diminish the overall distraction.

NeilL

cmorgan! is it really you???lust

I like it.

But it's not perfect. :cry

The background has become abstract, so let it be abstract, ie as it is.

I like the composition (with the abstract background). But the photo (a study, no?) lacks emphasis, yes?

So, what makes this shot for you? I repeat, why do you want us to look at it? One thing.

Next thing, you haven't described it's history, and especially PP. So what have you done to it to get it where it is? That's a clue to the first matter above, right?

What I would do 1, I would make all the textures on him pop and pull him away from the smooth bokehed abstract background. In the cap you have the weave. In the coat you have the seams and the zip. In the face you have hair.

What I would do 2, I would make all the tonal variations work hard (there is little color to do anything with). You have from black, to grays, to ginger, to ivory tones. At the moment they are dormant. You could do what David Ziser does for tones, or you could do what the guys did with channels in PS before layers were born. And you could go B&W as well (recommended). Everything you need is already in the shot, you have to isolate it and push it out front.

Finally, show it as big as you can.

Neil

cmorganphotography

For Jeffreaux2


I added a gaussian blur to the winter scene and pushed it back with some exposure and contrast being dialed down. I upped the foreground and cleaned the lines. I'm not a ps wizard, is there a way to make it look less fake?

cmorganphotography

For Swartzy


I tried a few gradients and the blue looked the best. I also added a blurred layer to give the plain gradient some punch.

jeffreaux2

cmorganphotography wrote:

I added a gaussian blur to the winter scene and pushed it back with some exposure and contrast being dialed down. I upped the foreground and cleaned the lines. I'm not a ps wizard, is there a way to make it look less fake?

Nice work...on both backgrounds.

Well....it appears he is plunk down in the middle of a brightly lit day. This would indicate contrasty light to me....Id up the contrast on him.

The temperature of the light is probably different in the two merged photos...not helping things maybe. Try playing with different filters in photoshop. Maybe a blue "cooling" filter applied over the subject....or warm up the sunlit bits of snow behind him.

The blacks do not appear rich enough.

Black and white might cure all this except the missing black point.


Hope that is a help.

cmorganphotography

NeilL wrote:

The background has become abstract, so let it be abstract, ie as it is.
So, what makes this shot for you? I repeat, why do you want us to look at it? One thing.

Next thing, you haven't described it's history, and especially PP. So what have you done to it to get it where it is? That's a clue to the first matter above, right?
...

I like the smile in the shot because it's so natural and so full. He's laughing at something.
I did no pp on that shot. That first shot is straight from the camera. I wanted to start from scratch.

You're going to have to show me what you mean with the tones, etc. I gave it a shot in b/w, but I'm not that great at textures.

cmorganphotography

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Black and white might cure all this except the missing black point.


Hope that is a help.

See below your 2nd comment. I did a bw. Perhaps I should just get funky on it that I tend to do with my pictures when the model doesn't care what I do.

Example: http://cmorganphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/6768475_hyFxx#439787733_v9o9m

NeilL

The B&W is the most successful to my eye to date. It gives the pic a better quality look. It is more flattering to the subject. Altogether gives the whole thing more gravitas.

Yes, the more prominent textures do exactly what I'd hoped. The figure pops more from the b'ground, becomes more interesting, the center of attention. Good work there. Maybe go a bit further with that? Maybe a whiff of more contrast? But there's tons you can do in a B&W conversion. You'll have to go play! Be careful of IQ (noise etc).

Look around Ziser's site for ideas on altering tones:

http://digitalprotalk.blogspot.com/2008/03/evening-blues-cool-photoshop-tutorial.html

His techniques are effective up to a point, but they use the Prime channel, which is limited. For higher level results you would have to learn the whole of channels theory.

cmorganphotography

New take DSS 16
I infused a little bit of everyone's advice. I added some gaussian blur, some gradients, some texture and contrast boosting. I also played with the tones a little and threw in a little but of my own flavor.

"SMILING IN THE RAIN"



comments?? suggestions? Yes? no? Go another way?

NeilL

Don't now about this last one... It's not without merit, tho a little illogical in that his beanie should be sopping in all that rain! There is a blue cast to the figure which makes him look uncomfortably icy. His eye stares manically. My eye keeps coming back to the stud in his lip, and I shudder. The background has no suggestion of horizon, and even an abstract needs to anchor the figure otherwise he floats in the ether. The texture I like. Why the blur? As I said before this image needs to have something which punches, and texture is it.

cmorganphotography

So give him a horizon and go with a different color like pink or orange? I bulged his eye because the catchlight faded with the contrast boost.

NeilL

cmorganphotography wrote:

So give him a horizon and go with a different color like pink or orange? I bulged his eye because the catchlight faded with the contrast boost.

I made an edit above perhaps while you were replying?

I like the new background, but I'm not sure it is quite right here. B&W can be stronger than color, especially when texture is important. You are being a bit freer/imaginative with the image, and that's good. However, the image contains a very limited lode on which to be free and imaginative.

NeilL

My feeling is go for a high quality looking, high texture B&W with a little abstractness and atmosphere. Play with a vignette.

cmorganphotography

New background: cloud brushes = teh awesome.

NeilL

cmorganphotography wrote:

New background: cloud brushes = teh awesome.

Where'd you find 'em?

cmorganphotography

NeilL wrote:

Where'd you find 'em?

making ps brushes is stupidly easy. A lot of the time stock photos can be your friend but it's no biggie to just draw what you want.