Window light

Dave Clee

This is another shot of Sonia, love to use window light whenever possible and this location definitely offers alot of that. Not alot of post on this one.

Feel free to comment / critique.

Cheers

Dave

chrisdg

Hi Dave - I love locations like this. Good scouting.

I'm an advanced hobbyist, not a pro, so my feedback is what it is...

It's a nice image, and I think she'll love it. Here's what I think would take it to the next level:

- you say "not a lot of post on this one", but her skin still looks just a bit too waxlike. Poreless-skin never looks natural enough to me. I like to use a bit of negative-clarity on the ladies, but not too much. In this case I don't think, "wow she has nice skin"...rather I think "she must have bad skin, cuz the post-processing is heavy".

- next time you shoot here, maybe position the model forward a bit so that the lit wall on the left border of the frame is a couple inches further back than the plane of her face (your focal plane). A shallow depth of field would then render that wall not as crisp as her face. Right now it's competing for attention, given its brightness value and precise focus. This 3rd plane would also add a little more dimension to the image (back wall layer, front wall layer, and model layer)

jmphotocraft

excellent work. I don't get the impression the skin was overly PP'd, to my eye it looks natural.

chrisdg

jmphotocraft wrote:

excellent work. I don't get the impression the skin was overly PP'd, to my eye it looks natural.

Maybe my two observations above are actually working to compound the problem a bit...
Perhaps the skins looks soft to me in comparison to the wall that is immediately next to her face, that is crisply in focus and rougher than sandpaper. When two things are in the same exact focal plane, we expect them to be equally crisp and detailed...which is why I naturally expect to see some pores on the face.

I'm not trying to make this sound like a big deal, it's not. Just a couple of minor points to help take an image like this to the next level.

If this were a typical portraiture studio shot, the amount of post-work on the skin is probably right in line with what typically sells.

Dave Clee

Thanks for the feedback, as far as the post work, there was a small amount of blemish removal via patch tool..and high pass smoothing layer which was about 30 percent opacity..and brushed back onto cheeks and forehead.
If you compare this to the other photo I posted of Sonia you will see the difference in post work.

Cheers

Dave

Dave Clee

Hey no worries, its why I post some of my images up here. I appreciate you taking the time to discuss ideas on how you think it could be better.

Cheers

Dave

chrisdg wrote:

Maybe my two observations above are actually working to compound the problem a bit...
Perhaps the skins looks soft to me in comparison to the wall that is immediately next to her face, that is crisply in focus and rougher than sandpaper. When two things are in the same exact focal plane, we expect them to be equally crisp and detailed...which is why I naturally expect to see some pores on the face.

I'm not trying to make this sound like a big deal, it's not. Just a couple of minor points to help take an image like this to the next level.

If this were a typical portraiture studio shot, the amount of post-work on the skin is probably right in line with what typically sells.

sweet caroline

I'm seeing a little skin texture, so it looks pretty natural. I am really liking her eyes and expression here. Gotta love window light!

Caroline

ivar

sweet caroline wrote:

I'm seeing a little skin texture, so it looks pretty natural. I am really liking her eyes and expression here. Gotta love window light!

Caroline

The skin still works for me, although I think you did good in not taking it any it any further

Scoupe

I like it. I like it a lot. It's a wonderful portrait.

Dave Clee

Appreciate the feedback.

Cheers

Dave

Spydawebb

Gotta love that natural light. Very nice.

JulieLawsonPhotography

Seriously beautiful light, location and processing. Very nice.

Nikolai

Dave Clee wrote:

This is another shot of Sonia, love to use window light whenever possible and this location definitely offers alot of that. Not alot of post on this one.

Feel free to comment / critique.

Cheers

Dave

Great portrait!
I like the contrast between the wall texture and the skin
Is it tilted abit?
Also, I think there is too much neg space on the right...