Hello, I had the opportunity to take some portraits of a friend. This is the first one i have had the chance to work on, and i have to say, it took me along time, to process it. This is my first serious attempt at a portrait retouch.
I am looking for some C&C so that i can improve, and move forward.
thanks for looking.
craig
Not sure if you are PP the face but the eyes and mouth are blurry. If so, use a layer mask and paint over the lips and eyes so they are sharper. Use of gaussian blur on the face is pretty much not done anymore by skilled retouchers. Better ways are available if you use PS by building layers of skin with masks.
Overall, I like the feel of this one, kind of introspective.
I am afraid to say it, but the eyes, are alittle soft on this one....havin said that it did not ruin the shot for me.. i could be wrong though...
craig
Your portrait of your friend actually looks much nicer than most portraits (in my opinion).
I like the following:
1. The light
2. The POV
3. The expression
4. The light in the eyes
5. The color and skin tone
6. The simple background
7. The use of Leading Lines
8. The hair (color and curl).
9. The use of the image frame (composition of figure in the space)
10. Her head shows (not cut off)
11. No "gimmicks" used. Seems very "natural."
So overall it is a nice portrait. I don't know the woman, but I get a sense this is a very flattering image of her. Hey, if it was my sister, mother, daughter, friend, (or myself, in similar setup) I would be very pleased.
So I like it. Good job. Well done.
What to consider? What to change? What am I not crazy about?
1. The strap. Is she wearing a purse, camera, or what?
2. The hood. I rarely like "Girl in Hood" images, though this one is not bad.
3. The skin. To my eye, it looks a little "too perfect" and PP looking.
4. The difference in the "focused" and OOF boards behind the figure. Right side of image seems "sharper" and "darker."
My Simple Suggestion: IF the eyes are not sharp, let nothing be sharp.
I hope these comments help and encourage you and others.
Although I make no claims of being a good portrait photographer I want to join Steady Hand in his assessments.
I honestly believe that you did very well for a first portrait. It takes time and practice to become a good portrait photographer.
The eyes, as a rule, should be the sharpest part of the subject and you should focus on them. Just keep in mind that, at large apertures, the eye closer to the camera could or could not be the sharpest, depending on where you focused.
Backgrounds are important if they add to the portrait, like in many environmental portraits where the tendency is to use small lens openings but the majority of photographers like to keep it unobtrusive by using a large lens opening.
The light in this portrait is very beautiful and enhances the model. I always try to use soft ambient light for female portraits for that reason or softboxes in the studio. Even with on camera flash my tendency is to soften the light by bouncing it.
I do not know what lens you used but lenses like the 85mm or the 105mm, so called "portrait lenses" are ideal with your camera for this type of photography. They do not tend to distort facial features.
Finally, I like to use a tripod. It assures me all the sharpness my lens is capable of.
If you can find a portrait photographer in your area ask him or her to help you. You can pay back by helping them as an assistant.
I hope this helps.
William Rodriguez
Miami, Florida.
Is it a very soft lens? Did focus get missed? Software not set up for good web-res reduction?
I like the warm colours but I'm not a fan of such agressive skin smoothing. To me, if it looks smoothed it's too smoothed, although you do see plenty of commercial stuff with plasticky faces.
Also, because you're shooting slightly from below you given this very pretty curvy girl a double chin, which she'll be fretting over most likely. You could hav hidden this by shooting a little higher. Shooting slightly down can remove quite big double chins and if you get your subject to look up towards you with their eyes alone you can produce an attractive doe-eyed look.
If there is a blemish or zit or scar (and the client wants it removed), I understand. But, in general, I think more or most photos look better without overall "skin smoothing."
But...this is a "minority opinion" I am sure.
When I see an image like the first pic, the skin smoothing sometimes "jumps out" at me (but I am a photographer). Then when I see the nice skin she really has...I think, "Why (skin smooth)?" So my preference...keep it as natural as possible.
Of course there are exceptions and this is no rule. Recently there was a post by bob parrish where the skin of a young woman had many blemishes. The PP he did gave the woman an image that looked nice for the style he used. When looking at those two (before/after) I preferred the "after" (PP) version. So...it is a matter of degree, situation, subject, and preference...and execution of the PP.
