I think I'm doing better... am I missing something?

r3t1awr3yd

EDIT IN RED!! lol

So... formal portraiture has never been my strong suit but lately I've been really getting into it.

I've got two portraits here (one very planned and one quickie in passing).

Tell me what YOU would have done differently in processing (specifically) to make 'em better or make 'em more awesomer. I need all the help I can get!

(be brutal if you feel you need to be!)

1) (Cherish)








2) (Jessica)



If you're just looking, that's cool but I'm telling you... you should just type something in that box below and hit submit post lol. :thumb

Qarik

they are both pretty decent but nothing jumps out at me... lighting is okay, focus is okay, proccesing is okay. You are missing the pizzaz factor! I think this is one of the hardest things to break out of..how do you make decent images into great images?

1) posing: instead of the model just squaring up to the camera, pose her..go wider to capture the pose!

2) make up and wardrobe: glam it up some! give her some physical style

3) background: find an interesting location, some nice wallpaper, a well graffitied wall, etc. anything but the grey death behind jessica

4) light: go off camera, straight bounce, harsh and direct, big and soft, window light, gelled.

5) compositions: this ties in with posing..interact with your enviroment! try different angle (up high or down low, zoom in tight ..go wide) always watch your backgrounds

6) gear and technique: pick up a dedicated portrait lens and practice single point focusing over and eye for example. try and maniplulate highlight in the eyes for close ups for example.

7) post processing: give it an edge, go BW, add a vignette, work on sharpening eyes and such

Any one of these or combination of these can really add some pop to an image.

r3t1awr3yd

EDIT: I should have said off the bat that I'm looking for processing critiques blah lol /edit.



I'll go through these so I look less like an unplanned oaf lol.

1) Posing in #1 was intentional (believe it or not, against a tree but she just wanted headshots). Nothing magical in #2.

2) Makeup was whatever they put on (#2 had NO makeup at all, #1 a bit)

3) Background in #1 was a picked area, #2 that just happened to be the wall there lol.

4) Light was off camera for both #1 is hair/backlit with mid day sun flash and umbrella to the camera right eye level #2 was off camera high above her camera left.

5) Composition I was just shooting for headshots in both though for #1 I did get some flattering full body shots (which took some work, believe me).

6) Dedicated portrait lens is something I've been eying (though I can't complain about the 70-200vr in #1 and 24-70 in #2)

7) I actually did a LOT of PP to get these to look like they do now and thought I was on the right track. I guess I should have posted this more in the technique area since I was really looking for feedback on the processing and not the subjects and "general photography" stuff lol. (as soon as I read your response I was like "Great, I look like a noob cus of two boring headshots lol".) This may just be the wrong section for the posts lol.

I definitely know how to get some decent (and interesting lol) people shots:

Qarik

haha..okay fair enough! Depending on the use..the processing maybe adequate. Sometimes that is all the client really wants. I think in genral the 1 is touch over exposed and in 2, you lose a lot of detail in the dark portion of her hair and face.

r3t1awr3yd

Qarik wrote: »

haha..okay fair enough! Depending on the use..the processing maybe adequate. Sometimes that is all the client really wants. I think in genral the 1 is touch over exposed and in 2, you lose a lot of detail in the dark portion of her hair and face.

Yeah, that was my screwup for not specifying. I learned some new ways to smooth the skin (but keep it natural looking?) and some other tricks I had never even tried and really want to know what else I can do.

On my monitor (which is NOT calibrated) I'm only seeing it hot in the places on the left side where the sun is touching her. You're seeing over exposure elsewhere??

I knew that in two and when I was "creating more drama" with the light/dark I noticed that part of the detail disappearing.

Thanks for putting up with my confusingnessness lol.

Qarik

in 1, I am talking about overall exposure to taste..not anything clipped per se. The whole thing could come down 1/3 to 1/2 stop to my taste. You can see the beggining of specular highlights in the hair for example (not the sun rim lighting).

anonymouscuban

Actually disagree with Daniel here. I don't think #1 is over exposed and specular highlights are not a bad thing. There part of what gives a portrait of the face contrast and dimension. You should see three regions in a portrait: Specular Highlights, diffused highlights and the transition zone, where diffused highlights become shadows. If anything, I would check the white and black point in the first image but exposure looks fine to me. Even if you knocked down the exposure it would do nothing to rid the specular highlights in the hair.

For the second image, I think the shadows are a bit harsh for this style of photo. I would try to lift them a bit in post. I'd also make these eyes pop just a bit.

reyvee61

Headshots are what they are and nothing more....<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
On number one I like the way that one looks and feels with the lighting....<o:p></o:p>
Your processing is appropriate for this type of shot and not over done at all...a keeper for impromptu<o:p></o:p>
On two, it looks like her skin could be smoothed a bit more and perhaps her teeth whitened a tad.<o:p></o:p>
If you shoot RAW I would bump the exposure a tad on the left side of her face only as it appears the light to shade ration is a bit off<o:p></o:p>
Your definitely on the right track

r3t1awr3yd

reyvee61 wrote: »

Headshots are what they are and nothing more....<o:p></o:p>
On number one I like the way that one looks and feels with the lighting....<o:p></o:p>
Your processing is appropriate for this type of shot and not over done at all...a keeper for impromptu<o:p></o:p>
On two, it looks like her skin could be smoothed a bit more and perhaps her teeth whitened a tad.<o:p></o:p>
If you shoot RAW I would bump the exposure a tad on the left side of her face only as it appears the light to shade ration is a bit off<o:p></o:p>
Your definitely on the right track

I definitely noticed the not so white teeth in #2. Got any better ideas than burning away? (anyone? lol)

anonymouscuban

r3t1awr3yd wrote: »

I definitely noticed the not so white teeth in #2. Got any better ideas than burning away? (anyone? lol)

Yes. Two ways.

Photoshop

1. Create a Levels adjustment layer mask
2. Bump the midtone and highlight sliders a bit. Watch the teeth and eyes get whiter. You want them to get pretty white but don't worry that they are too white since we are going to adjust that in a minute.
3. Invert the mask (CTRL+I) so that it "unmasks" everything
4. Take a small, soft brush set at about 15% opacity and 50% flow, set the color to white and mask in the teeth until you get them where you like them. You can also do the eyes if you want.
5. Finish up by adjusting the opacity level of the layer if you need to tone things down a bit.

BTW, you can also use a Curves adjustment layer instead of Levels but I prefer the latter. I get better results.


LightRoom

• Select the Adjustment Brush
• Check the Auto Mask box if not checked
• Bump the Brightness slider up a bit
• Use the bracket keys to adjust the size of your brush
• Paint the teeth with the brush.... the Auto Mask feature only selects parts of the image that have similar tones, which makes "painting within the lines" easy. Just keep the little "+" over the parts of the image you want selected.
• Fine tune the brightness to your liking and your done
• If you over select the lips, just hold the ALT key down and paint away the part you don't want the brighter

You can use the Adjustment brush in same way to brighten the whites of the eyes. Then make a second mask and but the sharpness, clarity and saturation/vibrance of the iris.

lizzard_nyc

Hi,
ok my one cent.
Shot #1, there is something on her forehead and side of her face that needs to be cleaned up. It almost like it's there on purpose though. Does anybody else see what looks like a white henna tattoo ( I know there is no such thing) but that's what it looks like, a floral design. Is that stray hair and shadows? It's kind of pretty, but definately got my attention at first glance.

I'm sorry I don't know what you can do with #2, but it looks like it needs quite a bit of work. I use LR and picnik, and I just fix things, so I can't really tell you what i would do, it just needs some help, in my photographically-unemployed-can't-get-hired-to-second-shoot-to-save-my-life opinion.

briandelion

Alternate white teeth fix: this one works great, but I don't know if there is an equivelent fix in Lightroom.

1. Select teeth w/ lasso tool (feathering set on 1) This will more seamlessly soften edges of selection.Careful not to select gum area!
2. Create a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. Choose "yellows" from the Edit box at the top (where it says "Master.")
3. Now drag the Saturation slider to the left to remove the yellowing from the teeth. If the teeth turn gray you will know you have dragged it too far!
4. Now go back to "Master" and drag the Lightness slider to the right for that whiter, brighter Pepsodent look!:D

reyvee61

Some of the teeth whitening techniques seem rather time consuming on Photoshop though I've never tried them.
In Capture NX2 it's aa simple as dropping control points and making warmth or saturation adjustments. Drop one point and make the appropriate adjustments then simply hit Command + D (Mac) to duplicate them for each tooth....it only takes seconds this way and works beautifully.....