Portrait for critique

[Big_B]

Have been paying attention to peoples suggestsions on taking nice portrait pictures. This is my attempt and I'd like your thoughts and suggestions for improvements.

Thanks!

Sam

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sam.blackie/Public/DSC_1874c.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sam.blackie/Public/DSC_1874d.jpg

[Claire]

Hi B,
The pictures are a bit dark. At least on my monitor (and I know I have a fairly bright one).

I like the first picture best. Seems like she's about to smile, but hasn't gotten that far yet. Would be great to see her smile or show a bit more of a facial expression. Yeah, I know it's tough to get people to convey emotions on demand!

[sGu]

for portrait, you should frame it that way, vertical shot. get a closer crop or fill the frame.

in your shot it's not close enough to show the details, and some space wasted on the frame, uneven background is a bit distracting, too.

[meow]

:) I think they are very nice, tranquil portraits. Only thing I can think of is adjusting the curves to get rid of the a little grayish tone and maybe sharpen just a little. Cutting the 'tails' off the brightness curve brings her face out.

http://www.ababa.net/stuff/face.jpg

[spock84]

I agree that portraits like this, where you've got just the face in the frame and nothing else interesting is going on to either side of the frame, it should be framed vertically. In my personal opinion, you shouldn't be afraid of leaving a little empty space along the edges either - in this case above her head. By all means, fill the frame, but don't make it feel all cramped and claustrophobic, if you know what I mean.

In addition to being too dark, as someone already mentioned, I find the light a bit dull. There's nothing with respects to the lighting that makes this an interesting face.

Usually, I also feel that portraits shouldn't be simply static images of a person's face, and the person in question shouldn't just stand there, trying to give his or her best smile. It should say something about one's personality. Now I don't know this particular person, but I doubt she's as "neutral" as she looks here.

:D

[Radtech1]

This is my thoughts. She is a beautiful young lady, and Meow's interpertation is a bit harsh for my taste. I softened the skin, added a touch of lip and eye makeup, de-emphasized the tip of the nose, added a bit more blur in the backgound, and put it in portrait orientation.

Rad

PS, I apologize in advance for the large file size, but I wanted to minimize jpging.

http://home.ripway.com/2004-2/78486/DSC_1874b.jpg

[meow]

:oops: Oh, mine was no attempt to interpret or edit in a wider sense. I just expanded the curve to make it use the full dynamic range.

[Big_B]

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments. She's normally really camera shy so getting her to look this relaxed was an acheivement.

I do like both of the suggested edits and will definately try the vertical framing next time.

Thanks again.

Sam

[Conk]

Give this a try. It's very simple and will make a huge difference.
http://www.okongraphics.com/tutorials/portraitretouch.html

[Sailor Don]

Conk,

Thanks for the link to okongraphics. It is a good website.

I'm thinking that Okon did too much editing on the portrait he used for his portrait example. The final result was too "cosmetic". Like the robot Stepford wives.

One thing specifically caught my attention is that the wisps of hair over the subject's forehead in the original were completely obliterated in the digitally edited version.

Perhaps with the powerful digital editing tools available, we may tend to go "overboard" and lose the inherent beauty of the original.