Kelsi

anonymouscuban

divamum

You know I love your work, but gotta say I'm not crazy about this one.

Is she a senior, or is this a headshot, or just a portrait you took or...?

Here are my nits:

- the slightly uneven catchlights emphasise what feels like a dead expression to me - she's not really connected
- your digital makeup has gone too far here for my taste - and if it isn't digital makeup.... somebody needs to use a lighter hand! Heading for 80's soap opera star with that strongly coloured and heavily contoured blusher/cheekbones
- eyebrows are strong enough for stage and REALLY look painted on.
- heavy shadow along her jawline (not under it) makes her looks like she has a 5 o'clock shadow
- highlight on nose emphasises that it's quite crooked
- skin also looks somewhat painted; yes there's texture there, but something has an almost "oil painting" feel to it.
- hair looks like it's had some surface blur applied, especially at the front right edge of the frame.

Just my 2c, but I'd say go back to more natural processing on this one. Just becauase we can do something, doesn't mean we should....

anonymouscuban

Thanks for the honest feedback Diva. It's like a virtual slap to stop my hysteria, like in the old movies when the leading man slaps the woman that is going bonkers. HAHAHA...

I did no digital make up on this one though. She has a lot of peach fuzz around her jaw line. It's not noticeable IRL but I guess my curves adjustment, to bring out tonal range and the lighting really accentuate it. Will knock that back a bit.

Time to redo this one and post it up. Thanks!!!

kobistar

I actually loved the first one

anonymouscuban

OK Miss Diva. Here's a better version. I never flatten the layers in my edits so I can always go back to reverse engineer the processing I did. I think what exacerbated the nose and facial fuzz was the B&W layer I always add to color photos to add tonal range. I've discussed this in the past. It was adding too much contrast to the shadows and too much structure to her peach fuzz. I lowered the opacity and on this layer but then I also knocked back the peach fuzz she has too. I think the B&W layer also was doing something wonky to her hair, which you said looked like I took a blur tool to. Oh... and I straightened her shnozz a touch.

Here is the new edit.



And I redid the B&W completely. Tweaked the luminosity on the different color channels. I originally used a preset that is for my wife's skin tone and I think it just didn't jive well with Kelsi's skin tone.

divamum

What I would probably do

Easiest way to do the peach fuzz is probably frequency separation. Time consuming, but it'll work (ugh lol)
lighten, slight desat and slight un-redden those cheeck contours
lighten up/soften those brows and blusher

Look forward to the rework!

divamum

Oops - netlague - got interrupted and posted this on my return without refreshing first!!

Better, but I still find her makeup way too obvious. I personally would soften it. Also, what about a wider crop? I kinda like the "old hollywood" feel to the comp/crop, but it does emphasise the war paint....

anonymouscuban

The makeup doesn't bother me at all so gonna leave it for now. I do need to step away from the mouse!!!

joshhuntnm

divamum wrote: »

- your digital makeup has gone too far here for my taste

My thought exactly.

anonymouscuban

joshhuntnm wrote: »

My thought exactly.

No digital makeup so blame the MUA.

Gary752

I'm gonna be the odd ball here and say I like it. It has a Joel Grimes look to it.

GaryB

Hackbone

I don't think she has the proper facial shape for butterfly lighting, too oval and emphasizes the width of the nose. Rembrandt would be better for her shape. Her lip/ mouth shape looks beaverish ( not Justin). 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock catch lights are odd plus the bright earring catches my eye.

anonymouscuban

Hack. I completely agree. Very wrong lighting setup for her. This one was definitely a miss on my part. I was more focused on what lighting setup I wanted to do that what would work best for subject. I don't think they're horrible shots at all, but I do agree that they can be better and I should know better.

That being said, here is a different shot. One with a bit more emotion and I also toned down her blush.

divamum

Better in that last one, although she probably won't like it because it makes her cheeks a bit chipmunk. I hugely prefer the crop with more hair and neckline.

This one was definitely a miss on my part. I was more focused on what lighting setup I wanted to do that what would work best for subject. I don't think they're horrible shots at all, but I do agree that they can be better and I should know better.

This is actually an astute comment, Alex, and put like that I would have to say I've done this more times than I'm willing to admit Actually, thinking about it.... almost ALL the shoots where I've been disappointed with the results could be attributed to being more focused on filling a technical brief of my own regardless of the client's structure etc, although I hadn't thought about it like that at the time. I will say, though, that two things I've started doing with all shoots (I must have subconsciously realised I was drifting into this):


- I don't set up my lights BEFORE the client arrives, but wait until they're here and getting ready. It makes me think more about what THEY tell me they want and what I see in their face on the day instead of just going with what I have preconceived.
- I ALWAYS shoot a tried-and-true series of one light + reflector setup (a few offset to the side a bit, and a few overhead in a true clamshell). If I can, I do a few with window light and a few with flash only.

Corrollary: one of my own biggest shoot "fails" at the moment is sometimes feeling that keeping things flowing is more important than changing up lights, eg switching from a more focused modifier like a SB to something with more "air" and spill like an umbrella. Or whatever. I'm reluctant to lose the energy, so I keep trying to make it work. Sometimes this is NOT the right choice, and I pay for it in post afterwards.............................

What was the purpose of these shots? That will, at least in part, affect how they're perceived

anonymouscuban

Great points Diva. I too will often avoid shifting lights just to keep things flowing.

A bit about the "why" for this shot. This photo was for me, not her. I've decided that this year, I'm going to focus on my own personal development and pursue personal projects. Right now, my thoughts are that I'd like to create a portrait of people I personally know. Could be family members, close friends and even acquaintances. I really don't have a clear vision of what I want to do, other than I want to photograph as many of these people as I can.

Kelsi is my niece, my sister's youngest daughter. She stopped by to pick something up before going out. I had my lights setup and she was willing so I took a few shots. This is not even close to what I want for this project. It was more about having a willing subject than having anything creative in mind. I know now that I want the portrait to speak a bit about the person. To say something about them. These shots fail miserably in that regard and I new that as I was taking them. The attempt was hurried and not at all thoughtful. However, it was photograph I took so I decided to share.

I do have my first real subject for this project already in mind and I have a good idea of what I want to do. I hope to shoot it this up coming week. Hopefully I can relay what I have conceptualize into a photograph.

zoomer

1 looks like Portrait Professional run amuck .

I find that if I take a photo with to much contrast at time of capture it is pretty tough to even out later. Looks like maybe you took this in Vivid or Standard and never could shed the contrast.

A good test is to finish the photo...come back a couple hours later and look at it again. It is SO easy to lead yourself down into processing hell if you fidget and fuss with a photo to long.......been there so many times.

Having said that this is anomoly as your work is usually spot on.

jonh68

I agree with most everything said. What I like to do with each lighting setup is to get the shot I intended, and then move around taking pictures from different angles just for fun regardless if the lights are in the pic. Most of the time they are crap, but sometimes you can get a real gem and it is good reference for creative lighting with future projects. It's neat seeing how the mood or look of a picture can change by just moving a couple of feet left or right.

Lightsearcher

Nice portrait, I like the last one when she is smiling.

Marcelo