Portrait of Val (2 versions), input please!

Greyhound Rick

Hello everyone!

I havent posted here in a long time and am glad to be back!

Im trying to get better at portrait work and have a long way to go but i wanted to get your input on a couple of renditions of an image i took of our daughter, Valerie, the other night after she came home from work.

1. This one was strobed with 3 lights and i added some skin softening with Color Efex Pro 3.0






2. For this one i added "Glamour Glow"



Please let me know what you think and thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it!

My best always,

rick

codiac2600

My first comment strays away from the processing and it has to do with the background. It's a greenish grey and just not happy with the colors presented. The subject has beautiful deep colored skin and the bright green shirt then this blah grey background. No matter how good the lighting, color and processing are the way the background interacts with the portrait is the final key piece to a great image. Try using a lighter color, maybe even white to make it more clean or go for black with a color gel to add some mood to it.

The processing in general is good, but I personally try to stay away from heavy skin smoothening and really sharp eyes. The skin smoothening is a little too far as I'm not seeing much detail but then again it's a small image but the eyes have artifacts which tell me they are too sharp.

The second image use an effect that I shy away from each and every time now since it's just not happy. Glamour glow just doesn't work IMO and when it does it's for such a specific photo that you'll know right off the bat it needs some sort of glow and this image does not need it. Remember that all the glow effects were created to hide imperfections, which you've already taken out so to me it seems unneeded.

Now the good part is the lighting. Even though very basic and simple it was executed well with very few shadows and the added hair light helps bring out dark hair. If you wanted to spice up the lighting lose the three light standard setup and go for more of a mysterious approach by using one large light source to illuminate your subject, keep the hair light and use the third light as an accessory light in the background or eliminate all together.

codiac2600

After writing all that in my response I found an image from long ago that might help.



The image above was from a corporate shoot where they needed head shots for their website so very basic indeed. I used one 40" umbrella and a snooted flash into the background for some flavor. It's not an amazing image, but it has character and the processing was using a skin smoothening tool that doesn't destroy the realism.

Greyhound Rick

thanks so much Chris for your expertise and input. I really appreciate it!

With regard to your comments:

1. I will turn down the in camera sharpening a bit in my Picture Controls as i had it set fairly high at "7" out of 10 vs. the default which is "3".

2. Can you tell me a good backround to purchase? I have just the standard grey and i really like the background in your image. Is that one gelled at all or is that the true color of the background?

3. Will experiment with the lighting and see what different effects i can get with different combinations.

4. Wil tone down the skin softening and will be careful with the Glamour Glow in the future.

Thanks again and i hope to hear from you very soon!

my best,

rick

Greyhound Rick

Did a little research and found that B&H has some paper backgrounds in various colors that are priced reasonably.

Was thinking about adding the following colors:

Studio blue
Chestnut
White
Black

What do you think of that route?

thanks again,

rick

codiac2600

All those colors are great and it's always good to have variety so you're ready for anything anytime.

In the studio I have a white room a black room then all the primary colors plus pink and light blue for young children. It's all a feel for what colors to purchase as it should also reflect your inner artist. With a black wall, muslin or paper and some colored gels you can have tons of options as black is the ultimate color to spray light on to give it that glory it needs.

The secret is to have your main light in close to the subject and the subject farther away from the background so there is light separation. This separation gives you the ability to light on two individual planes like so:



What you could do with the grey is deepen it by letting it get illuminated less. Move your subject about 7 feet from the backdrop and only light your subject and watch as the background seems to get deeper and darker. It's a great trick to change your background density without having to own a million backdrops. Just like taking red and hitting it with extra light to turn it pink or to make a bright red into a deep red by illuminating it less.

Basically, PLAY!!! Playing with lighting is the greatest tool you have and keep a journal of your favorite lighting setups when you find one within the mix or things.

Greyhound Rick

Fantastic tips Chris! Thank you! Will try and re-post some more when i can.

many thanks,

rick

Greyhound Rick

I made the following changes and would like to know if you think the image is improved...

1. Lowered the in camera Picture Control sharpening from "7" to "5"

2. Decreased the skin softener

3. Eliminated Glamour Glow



Thank you for your input! :-)

rick

Qarik

the focus, comp, and lighting are good. the processing in the 2nd shot is frankly overdone and I don't like it a bit. The 1st one is better but still a touch over done. The skin soften in the 2nd post is very very close.

codiac2600

PM Received


That is much much better. The skin softening is very close to being spot on and depending how bad it was originally this could be extremely acceptable. The sharpness is very good and doesn't give the heavy artifacts from before.

Greyhound Rick

Thank you for your input Qarik and Chris. Appreciate it very much!

I took the Picture Control Sharpening all the way down to "0" here and applied global sharpening. I then added a light touch of high pass filter just to the iris/pupil, eyebrow, eyelash, nose and mouth areas. I did not apply it to the whites of her eyes. Also, kept the skin softening in the image, but at a low level. Let me know what you think. Im hoping this looks a bit more natural...

Qarik

it looks good. could you post bigger size as well?

jeffreaux2

The redo looks best. The glamour glow was way overboard.

topazdan

Q. Are those her real eyelashes? The look like they have been applied in post.