Self Portrait PP - Need Opinions

Tuna

Hey, I'm pretty new here (obviously) and pretty new to photography in general. I've been spending the last few days watching a bunch of tutorial videos about Lightroom and learning about all of the capabilities of it and learning better how to manage my workflow, etc. Anyway, I finished them all up now (52 videos!) and just started messing around with a self portrait that I have. Anyway, I'm undecided on whether or not I like the "after" photo or not and I wanted to see what others thought. Did I do way too much or does it actually look kind of neat?

This isn't really the original, per se, but it's how I previously had it.


And here is what I did to it.



Any tips or suggestions are welcome of course.

antonjo

Few words about the idea of self portait, more than Post Processing ...

If I see a topic "self - portrait" I start thinknig " Will I get to know anything about You after seeing this picture ? Or would it be another one of thousands photos showing Your face or whatsoever, from which tells the viewer nothing about You exept the look of your face ...

So What I really mean ? I would rather see your hobby, Your proffesion anything that is important to You, rather than see Your face itself ...

Form thre picture You've showed, I would say that You're keen on music ...

Regards

Tuna

antonjo wrote:

Few words about the idea of self portait, more than Post Processing ...

If I see a topic "self - portrait" I start thinknig " Will I get to know anything about You after seeing this picture ? Or would it be another one of thousands photos showing Your face or whatsoever, from which tells the viewer nothing about You exept the look of your face ...

So What I really mean ? I would rather see your hobby, Your proffesion anything that is important to You, rather than see Your face itself ...

Form thre picture You've showed, I would say that You're keen on music ...

Regards

I was actually going more for the feeling of boredom. I'm in Iraq right now and there's not a whole lot to do in your free time out here. I do have headphones in my ears for a good portion of the day, so I guess you were right there.

Anyway, no other opinions?

Vickster

Hey . . .
Self-portraits are the most difficult shots to get! Your shot almost looks like a pencil drawing in the edited version . . .kinda cool. It does look a bit over-processed and has lost that "photo" quality but sometimes that it just as interesting as anything. I do think I would have liked to see more of your face, maybe just slightly turned towards the lens.
But again, SP's are tough! I've taken many many many and most of them are deleted !!! I know how I want to pose other people but just can't seem to get myself to do the same! . . .
Thanks for your service, by the way! What branch are you in?
Vicki

Richard

I like the way you have toned down the highlights in the second version. On the other hand, I think it needs a bit more contrast between you and the background. Maybe try masking it so that the new treatment doesn't affect the background?

Cheers,

saurora

I like what the treatment has done to you (clothes, shadowing on your face, etc.). The paneled wall in the bg is very distracting and the processing has emphasized the grain. It keeps pulling my attention from you. I agree w/Richard that it would be a great idea to mask and eliminate some of that effect on the wall. SPs are difficult, I like this one!

Pilznr

Hey There, I like the treatment. The addition and subtraction of certian highlights are good, and I like the pencil drawing look, too.

I agree with atonjo about the self portraits. #1-They're very Hard to do, and #2-I wish I could see a portrait that tells more about you. I never would've known that you were in Iraq right now if you hadn't told us. Maybe you don't want to be known for that, and that's fine too.

M@

Tuna

Vickster wrote:

Thanks for your service, by the way! What branch are you in?
Vicki

I'm just a civilian contractor. Thanks for the comments though.

saurora wrote:

I like what the treatment has done to you (clothes, shadowing on your face, etc.). The paneled wall in the bg is very distracting and the processing has emphasized the grain. It keeps pulling my attention from you. I agree w/Richard that it would be a great idea to mask and eliminate some of that effect on the wall. SPs are difficult, I like this one!

I see what you mean. Is the background in this one less distracting?

Pilznr

Tuna wrote:

I'm just a civilian contractor. Thanks for the comments though.



I see what you mean. Is the background in this one less distracting?

Background is much better. I think it made yourself pop out more. You've inspired me to do a new self portrait. Thanks.

ian408

The general idea you have is good. However, the background is distracting. You could fix this using layer masks and radial blur.