Been a long time since I was in the studio, so I went to a local studio's open house, they call it their Co-Lab. I tried the gel look made popular by Lindsay Adler and others shooting fashion and senior portraits. Still not sure if I like the look or not, but I like the results when I turned it black and white and added a T-max grain layer. CC welcome.
I really like this look. I don't know if I like the grain, as that's not my style, but you went for it intentionally and nailed it. Along her jaw line, esp getting close to her chin, I think the skin is a little splotchy and just a touch of clone can clean that up (if you agree it's splotchy).
friscoron wrote:
I really like this look. I don't know if I like the grain, as that's not my style, but you went for it intentionally and nailed it. Along her jaw line, esp getting close to her chin, I think the skin is a little splotchy and just a touch of clone can clean that up (if you agree it's splotchy).
Really well done, tho!
Friscoron, thanks for looking and the reply. I loved the grain T-max film gave to black and white portraits back in the day. If you shot film it was a better look than Tri-X, in my opinion and a great improvement for film. I go through periods where I miss the look and play in post to add it in. I cleaned up her skin before going black and white so the splotchy area you noted must be a part of the grain pattern, thanks for pointing it out. I'll move the pattern around or clean it up with other tools. Thanks again for the reply.
Excellent work! Love it. I might work on the shadows near her dangling earring. Maybe a more subtle transition from the shadows. Wish her top was all black--the piece of lighter fabric takes some of my attention away from her face. Maybe, counter-intuitively, brightening it might work. Separate its tones from the shadow tones on her neck. Hair, eyes, skin--fantastic.
Brev00 wrote:
Excellent work! Love it. I might work on the shadows near her dangling earring. Maybe a more subtle transition from the shadows. Wish her top was all black--the piece of lighter fabric takes some of my attention away from her face. Maybe, counter-intuitively, brightening it might work. Separate its tones from the shadow tones on her neck. Hair, eyes, skin--fantastic.
Brev00, thanks for the compliments and constructive criticism! I hit the shadows near her earring but just couldn't get it to my liking, so reverted back to near SOC. It's funny you mentioned the stripe on her top, in the color version I converted it from a bright yellow to a pink that matches the gelled left side of the frame. Didn't even think about it in the monochrome, I'll take a look at it. I may leave it in as it does add some depth to the portrait. Thanks again for the suggestions and compliments.
