Anne Morgan, children's author - mature woman portraits

NeilL

Anne Morgan, Tasmanian author of children's literature.

You'd do me a great favor by nitpicking these :wink















Thanks for looking, and please comment.

Neil

adbsgicom

Neil, I like the second much more. I think her eye contact pulls me in more, and that her face has a much more pleasing shape and skin tone. I think you could get away with bumping the levels a bit more (and masking back down the shirt if it blows out), but the light is flattering and I feel engaged in the shot.

thoth

I'm going to disagree with Andrew and say I like the first shot, Neil. I do tend to prefer more candid portraits, however. Both images need a boost in contrast and setting a black and white point will likely take care of that for you.

divamum

I'm with #2 as well. Is this for a book jacket? In which case either would work, but I greatly prefer the eye contact into the lens rather than away. I would crop #2 down a bit, observing the rule of 3rds for whichever is the sharper eye (or if they're equally sharp, whichever side you find more pleasing). Love the light in both.

Snowgirl

I'm going to vote for #2 as well. She has a bit of the 'deer in headlights' look in the first one. That said, I wish her head were tipped up slightly instead of down, but that's minor. It would even out any wrinkles in the neck.

NeilL

Guys, I'm very sorry to be so slow to get back to you about your comments. They were extremely helpful, and I have implemented all of your suggestions.

Andrew & Travis, I did a black and white points, increasing the contrast, and that improved both shots significantly, helping to separate the face from the BG. Andrew, I also cut the brightness of the shirt, as you suggested. It's good.

divamum, I recropped the second to get a tighter frame and it works very well, helping too to slim the view of the subject.

Snowgirl, yes the first shot is very square-on, appeals or doesn't. I actually like it the better of the two, to me it says "author" more than the second, and although the eyes are not making contact, something in the effect communicates to me more of the person. The wrinkles in the neck that you commented on in the second shot (L side of neck) might I think be strands of hair.

So many thanks for you help, guys, your comments made a big difference helping me to see the shots more objectively. The more I internalise the many ways people look at photos the less the blindness towards my images which happens because I am *awed* by them wink

The biggest challenge in the final stages was smoothing the skin, to still look natural for this age, and keeping as much sharpness as possible in already soft images (my gaucheness with the AF!).

Neil