Headshot 1

fredjclaus · March 21, 2012

Here is one of the shots I did at a local Women's group mixer. I ran it through Portrait Professional to remove some wrinkles in the woman's face. I don't like the way the eyes look and the extra tooth in the corner of the mouth.

Comments?

Qarik · March 21, 2012

Fred, this shot is really doing nothing for me and I will tell you why..

pose: it is straight on, I would have like to see at least a some shoulder turn here, light: pretty flat and uninteresting and underexposed to boot. colors/tone: her skin looks rather muddy, colors a bit drab..no pop at all. Also she has raccoon eyes and her smile is awkward as if you caught her as she was about to smile or something. Lastly the shot is soft over all.

Btw what is your set/up?

reyvee61 · March 22, 2012

Fred I think Daniel has pointed out a lot of what I see but I encourage you to make better use of lighting if you have it or available natural light. One of my pet peeves is the loss of detail in peoples eyes especially with headshots it's very important.

zoomer · March 22, 2012

Start over, run it through PP again and reduce the settings for skin smoothing shadows, wrinkles, details etc. Just give it enough to take some of the depth out of the wrinkles.....or don't use PP at all.
PP is a good tool for people who already have pretty good skin and/or younger people. Does not work well if people have really bad skin or are older.
You need to get some light into the eyes.
See how your flash hit her neck not her face.
See the color of your background...never use that color, greens and yellows never work.

BrettDeutsch · March 22, 2012

I agree with nearly everything above. Another point: by lifting her chin, her neck/chin combine and look weak and flabby. If she were to lower her chin and push it out just an inch, her chin and jawline would look considerably stronger and more flattering.