Some portrait practice

augustmelodyaugustmelody Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 74 Big grins
edited November 2, 2010 in People
Hi all, I haven't been around these parts in a long time. I don't have a lot of portrait experience but it is always an interesting challenge when I find the opportunity. I'd love to hear thoughts and CC.


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Comments

  • jirojiro Registered Users Posts: 1,865 Major grins
    edited October 27, 2010
    Good shots and has lots of potential. thumb.gif

    If I may comment:

    For shot #1 - shift the focus on the woman's eyes and not on the balusters. Darken the surrounding areas around her and boost up the contrast on her a little bit. All can be done inside photoshop if you want to play around with it.

    For shot #2 - get rid of the horse' tail. It's very distracting considering it is on the front part of the image. (though i have no idea as to how to totally get rid of the tail here. ) Again, since her hair is almost similar to the brightness of the barn doors I'd darken the background a little bit or introduce some vignetting to let the viewer's attention be on her face. I would probably darken the body of the horse to add some contrast with the image.

    For shot #3 - I'd probably crop the image a little bit higher (just a tad below the shell necklace. I'd also darken the background a little bit and add contrast to her hair. Soften the skin a little bit and sharpen the eyes more. Some vignetting would be nice around her.

    For shot #4 - this is the most promising of the four. I'd probably boost the contrast and brightness a little bit and soften her skin or add a glow. A little vignetting would also be nice. If you still have the raw or original image I would probably include some more of her hands on the cropping to complete the image.

    HTH. :D

    Hope it's OK with you, I tried to play around with shot #3 and here is what I came up with.
    Sitting quietly, doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

    http://imagesbyjirobau.blogspot.com/
    http://500px.com/williebau
  • jirojiro Registered Users Posts: 1,865 Major grins
    edited October 27, 2010
    Here is what I came up with for shot #2:
    Sitting quietly, doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

    http://imagesbyjirobau.blogspot.com/
    http://500px.com/williebau
  • Darren Troy CDarren Troy C Registered Users Posts: 1,927 Major grins
    edited October 27, 2010
    2nd and the 4th are the best of the group...nice work.
    http://DarrenTroyCphotography.com/
  • augustmelodyaugustmelody Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 74 Big grins
    edited October 30, 2010
    Thanks, both of you! I definitely see what you mean and I appreciate your perspective. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and edits. I really like the crop on #3. I wish I could do something about her hands in #4 but that is almost straight out of the camera, no crop!

    On #2 the blur and vignetting might be a little extreme for my liking on that particular photo, but it is a very good suggestion and I'll have to play around with it. I have very mixed feelings about the horse's tail in that shot. At first I hated the picture for that alone, but of the shots I had of her in that position (with and without the tail), that was by far the best composition-wise and I love her expression in that one so I decided to work with it. It ended up growing on me and becoming one of my favorites from the entire shoot, and I think the tail is unusual and makes the shot more interesting. I guess I'll just have to figure out how to "mute" it a little bit. Oh - on your edit, are her skin tones a little off, maybe a bit too yellow, or is it my monitor? (quite possible)


    #1... Ahhh, another one that has plagued me. That was just a casual snapshot of a friend of mine during a downtown walk, so I didn't have a lot to work with or a lot of time to set it up. The RAW image was a mess, but I liked it because it totally captures her personality so I tried to fix it up. I am no PS whiz, so could you give me some suggestions as to how I can improve it more?
  • jirojiro Registered Users Posts: 1,865 Major grins
    edited October 31, 2010
    You were right. I think I must have over-saturated her skin tone and made it look yellowish.
    Sitting quietly, doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

    http://imagesbyjirobau.blogspot.com/
    http://500px.com/williebau
  • reyvee61reyvee61 Registered Users Posts: 1,877 Major grins
    edited October 31, 2010
    I really like 3 and 4 a lot.
    I agree that 1 is soft where it needs to be sharp....
    On 2, yes the tail is distracting but why not try and change the orientation to landscape and lose the tail all together?
    Nice work overall!
    Yo soy Reynaldo
  • augustmelodyaugustmelody Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 74 Big grins
    edited November 1, 2010
    Alright, take two... I feel like the landscape crop is missing something? But I do like it...

    #2
    150010_448911045027_502475027_5538396_5274870_n.jpg

    #3
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  • jirojiro Registered Users Posts: 1,865 Major grins
    edited November 1, 2010
    I think your new crop on #2 worked beautifully here. Good job!
    Sitting quietly, doing nothing. Spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

    http://imagesbyjirobau.blogspot.com/
    http://500px.com/williebau
  • reyvee61reyvee61 Registered Users Posts: 1,877 Major grins
    edited November 2, 2010
    Very nice, I see what you are saying on #2 but I do like it better.....
    Yo soy Reynaldo
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