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Archive 2013 · A Noble Woman C+C

FredVf
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · A Noble Woman C+C

I'm not sure if it is incorrect to double post since I posted these in the "People" section as well. I would love to hear objective comments and critique of the following portraits I took over the weekend. I am a very hard critic of my work and have a hard time looking at it objectively.

Thank you for your input.

Fred

Feb 24, 2013 at 08:16 PM

Eyeball
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · A Noble Woman C+C

Of the three, I like the third the best. Exposure looks spot on and color is good. If I was doing it over again though, there are two things I would try:

- I would try the same pose but moving the main light to camera right so as to short-light the subject. I think it would create a slightly more dramatic light that would fit well with the costume and sword. It would also narrow the subjects face a bit, it would probably help eliminate the reflection off the hilt of the sword, and it would eliminate the dark shadow on her left cheek that almost looks like a bruise.

- I would move her farther up in the frame and include her whole hand on the sword and possibly more of her arm. I would just be careful with the posing of her hand to avoid a "death grip" appearance and to avoid presenting flat parts of the hand as much as possible.

#2 would be nice I think centered and without the sword. The sword just seems intrusive to me in that one and it is out of focus and cropped to the point that it's not very clear what it is on first glance.

#1 is nice, too, as a more normal portrait. It just feels a little cramped when shown with the other two. Both it and #2 have double catchlights in the eyes that some people don't care for. That could be fixed by cloning or perhaps with a slight re-positioning of the lights. The white pieces of her head wrap are peaking through in a slightly distracting manner and it might have been nice to have the earring not tucked into the scarf.

All those words probably make my critique sound more negative than intended. I think you did a very good job with the basic set-up and lighting.

Feb 24, 2013 at 09:09 PM

RustyBug

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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · A Noble Woman C+C

+1 @ Dennis

Welcome to the PC Forum.

Imo, no worries @ "double post" into this forum ... it's really a different purpose that isn't a duplication of the "regular" forums.

I don't care much for the first one with the tight square crop.
Diggin' the gaze in the second one, but the camera position seems a touch low for my taste, and would like to see just a little more negative space on the right.
I like the look of the last one, but the relationship between the face direction and the eyes "looking back" looks a bit contrived (see Dennis above at facial angle).

Nits aside ... I really like the strong gaze of the second one and the comp of the last one ... the second one being my fav as her expression trumps the other two (imo) and presents a character of confidence and stature.

Feb 24, 2013 at 09:13 PM

FredVf
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · A Noble Woman C+C

Eyeball, Interesting comment about moving the main light to the right. I saw a portrait of Mark Twain shot that way and it really caught my attention. I was going to try that the next time.

I really appreciate both of your comments, and they really help me see things that I might not have noticed on my own. It also helps underline the fact that there are tons of little details that have to be worked out prior to pressing the button: The wide face side (lighting), the tucked earring, the hand placement with the death grip, how the hand should have also been decorated, the catchlights, the background, focus, and dozens of other little things. So many things to think about.

Again, big thanks for your very helpful comments. They are very much appreciated.

Best regards,

Fred

Feb 25, 2013 at 06:22 AM

dmacmillan
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · A Noble Woman C+C

What kind of post did you use? I'm not on a calibrated monitor at the moment, but the skin tones look green.

Feb 25, 2013 at 09:58 AM

FredVf
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · A Noble Woman C+C

Hi Macmillan.
I used Lightroom to correct blemishes, etc. and a little bit of Photoshop Elements to dodge and burn the metallic elements a little. I calibrated my monitor to my local printer's settings. I am at my office computer presently and don't see any green either. Maybe it looks a little cooler from this monitor.

Fred

Feb 25, 2013 at 10:14 AM

RustyBug

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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · A Noble Woman C+C

Color is good here (no green), too ... i.e. I haven't felt compelled to "check the numbers".
Re-calibrated about a week ago.

ProPhoto ... color space management variance, when assigned to sRGB in PS ... looked blech, greenish. I'm browsing with Mozilla Firefox ... Doug are you viewing with IE, Chrome or some other un-managed browser? Fred, I typically convert to sRGB (flattens in the process

, save as, then undo, un-flattens

) for web posting.

Checking the numbers the "whites" (assumed) are a touch warm (not a bad thing where skin tones also are in play) with the "white"areas running about 10 points less in the blue channel, i.e. 220,220,210. Specular (sword handle) was around 255,254,255, and the pupil had a 5,5,5.

Here's a version with a little blue tweak to the highlights ... neither to suggest better, nor necessary, just illustrating the diff.

Converted to sRGB and highlights tweaked in the blue channel

Assigned (not converted) to sRGB

Feb 25, 2013 at 10:20 AM

FredVf
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · A Noble Woman C+C

Whoooshhhh....... You just went right over my head with that.

I can see the color differences between the top and bottom, but don't know what the numbers mean. The bottom one looks green, but the top one looks very similar to the one in my original post above.

Feb 25, 2013 at 07:27 PM

RustyBug

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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · A Noble Woman C+C

No worries ... it was mostly for Doug's issue at seeing greenish.

Don't let anything I've written influence you at the numbers, your color is fine ... other than maybe to convert the file to sRGB before posting to the web, in case someone is viewing on a non-color managed browser. But even at that, they can just use a color managed browser like Safari or Firefox to view the colors correctly when you post a color space other than sRGB.

Feb 25, 2013 at 07:53 PM

AuntiPode

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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · A Noble Woman C+C

General observations:

Good color. Sharp. Good light positioning, if perhaps rather conventional. Might be wise to position the subject and lights to avoid multiple catchlights. Generally safer to convert images to sRGB color space before posting. That avoid some problems with viewers seeing the colors in ways you do not intend, especially on non-color managed browsers.

First image:

If you want to make her look stout, then a square crop and filled frame works. If not, it's not a flattering composition for a woman who's not quite thin.

Second image:

The subject strikes a pose appealing in some ways, but at the expense of exaggerating the size of her chin. The sabre handle in the foreground distracts without adding anything useful, to my eyes. Less top space and more body/chest would make a better balanced portrait.

Third image:

Too much space above her head. The composition would be better if the head space was used to show more chest/body for a better balance. Better weighting of the bottom of the frame makes a composition seem more firm.
The position of sabre handle also seems to crowd the left of the frame. Leaving it more room might make the image feeling less cramped.

Feb 26, 2013 at 08:20 PM

FredVf
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · A Noble Woman C+C

Thank you AuntiPode. Your straight comments are really appreciated. I did hesitate a bit with the crop. Originally I had the head higher, which actually put one of her eyes in the crosshairs of a "rule of thirds" layout. Although technically this seemed dead on, at the time it felt better to lower it a bit. I am glad that this was one of the items that was pointed out a couple of times because I really had doubts about that.

thank you again,

Fred

Feb 27, 2013 at 05:58 PM

Alan321
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · A Noble Woman C+C

I think the third one would show more "nobility" if she was not looking directly at us but rather was looking straight ahead (to our right), and also if her head was held a little higher and more confidently as in the second one.

The others are good photos but don't bring out the intended power or nobility of the subject (and title) as well as the third one can. That third one definitely adds more in terms of context because there is more of the sword and also the metal sash / armour.

The first one is the weakest of the three because it's just a woman with a funny hat. There is no sense of nobility at all. However, give her a sword and we're far less likely to criticise her hat

The second one probably has the best pose with her head held high and certainly has the best facial expression but it needs to show more of the sword and sash. It's probably a good example of a photo that should be loosely framed at capture to allow more options in editing, so long as in doing so none of the required details are not lost due to lack of resolution.

How about a shot where she is holding the scabbard of the sword with her left hand and is gripping the handle with her right hand ?

- Alan

May 07, 2013 at 11:50 AM

odnanref
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · A Noble Woman C+C

i like the second one the best. there is something about the confidence you captured in the subject that is really great. i don't know if you cropped from the right but if you did i would suggest bringing a little bit back. it looks to cropped on that side. well done!

May 12, 2013 at 08:28 AM


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