Quick Portraits

[Bootsie]

These are just some quick shots against the wall in my basement.

I know the shadow is bad, but all I have is my 430EX on camera w/BBC.

CC Welcome

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l243/vkhadley/Me.jpg

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l243/vkhadley/Me2.jpg

[Deckham]

Very difficult to give a photographic critique on shots that have been processed so much. If that is yourself, I understand that we want to look our best. In my humble opinion - the processing detracts greatly from what looks like a pretty woman.

[KarlosDaJackal]

Hi Bootsie,
The white balance looks a little too warm for me.

Also I'm not sure if the skin is over processed or if the model has a little too much make-up on. At a guess I'd say a little too much make-up followed by a little too much skin healing (really make-up healing). Its just makes the skin look a little to flat especially around the cheekbones.

The only other thing I'd change is maybe brighten up or sharpen the pupils of the eyes a little so that they stand out a bit more. I think that would add a lot to the picture. The 2nd picture also has 4 hot spots around, 3 around the teeth and 1 in her left eye.

I had a go with the 2nd image. Sharpened eye pupils, hit auto-WB, and got rid of hotspots with the healing tool.

Cute model ;)

[aram535]

Don't worry about having only one light, it just means you have to do a little bit more setup. You do need two reflectors though. Turn the 430 completely to the right or left and use a large bounce card (or a piece of card board covered with aluminum foil) pointing at a 45 degree angel toward your subject. This will be your main light. The card should go above your shoulder, hang it from the ceiling, a door, a lamp, whatever. Bend the outside a bit so it gives you some directional reflection.

You need a second bounce card on the opposite side near the model's head. That will be your fill light. Put the flash in Manual and pump it up to full power, and take sample shots adjust power down as needed.

Don't over process your image, your model is cute and human. No need to make her look like she came from planet vogue.

[Bootsie]

Ok, here is one with a little less processing.

There really is not much processing at all, a little bit of skin smoothing, and removing a couple of blemishes. I also adjusted levels, brightened the eyes a little, and added the vignette.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l243/vkhadley/Me4.jpg

[Chet]

Very nice self-ee Brooke. 2nd edit looks a bit better on the processing.

[Bootsie]

Hi Bootsie,
The white balance looks a little too warm for me.

Also I'm not sure if the skin is over processed or if the model has a little too much make-up on. At a guess I'd say a little too much make-up followed by a little too much skin healing (really make-up healing). Its just makes the skin look a little to flat especially around the cheekbones.

The only other thing I'd change is maybe brighten up or sharpen the pupils of the eyes a little so that they stand out a bit more. I think that would add a lot to the picture. The 2nd picture also has 4 hot spots around, 3 around the teeth and 1 in her left eye.

I had a go with the 2nd image. Sharpened eye pupils, hit auto-WB, and got rid of hotspots with the healing tool.

Cute model ;)

Thanks for your help. :)

I redid it with a little less skin processing and tried to brighten the eyes more, I wish that I could make them really pop, but it just doesn't seem to work.

The skin must just be over processed, cause there is no makeup other than a little eye shadow and mascara.

[Chet]

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/373202129_GTPnJ-O.jpg

[Chet]

You wouldn't have the raw file to play with would you? :)

[Walczak Photo]

I'm certainly no expert on portraits, but I have to say there's something going on here that I really don't like...the model looks more like "Anime" than an actual model. Since the OP said there "really is not much processing at all" and "The skin must just be over processed, cause there is no makeup other than a little eye shadow and mascara", I'm not really sure I can make a productive suggestion as to what the problem might be, but to me the model really looks kind of like plastic (no offense to the model at all). I think the only thing I can really suggest is first, move the model away from the wall a bit and second, try playing with the lighting suggestions that aram provided. You should be able to come up with better results even with a single flash.

Not trying to be rude...just my honest opinion.
Peace,
Jim

[Bootsie]

Here it is with no skin smoothing at all... better?

Crazy I like your edit, except that the white balance is off, that shirt really is bright green, it might be a tiny bit warm, but not much.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l243/vkhadley/Me5.jpg

[concatonate]

I like this one the best. The others truly border on artificial. I don't see anything wrong with the orginal, but I'm not sure if there was a specific technique or effect you were going for with your PP.

I'm not really in to portrait photography, but I would suggest a slightly darker background and standing further away from the backdrop.

[Deckham]

It looks a lot less plasticky, Bootsie :)

A couple of general tips -

Placing the model further away from the backdrop will not only reduce the apparent shadowing, but also go towards blurring the textures in the wall. A smaller aperture would also be a way to achieve this blurring.

Your WB settings are on auto, but I do not think they did a good job in this case. Unless, of course, what you are seeing is different from what I am seeing. This has a lot to do with colour calibration of monitors. Mine is calibrated. If you do not wish to get a hardware calibration solution, you can find rough guides online. FuryMe's interpretation is a lot closer to how it should look, colour-wise.

If only using one flash, and it is stuck to your camera body, try playing around with bouncing the light off different surface - both permanent ones in the room, and/or self-made ones. The most natural source of light comes from above in diffused form (the sun). Bouncing your flash off the ceiling (at that range, somewhere above and behind you) will give you a similar effect (and less of the 'pin-prick' highlights in the eyes). For more dramatic lighting, you can play around with angles.

ISO400 could have been avoided, simply by opening up your aperture to f/4 or so. +2 stops in aperture, - 2 stops in ISO = ISO100

[12stones]

Okay, I took the image you posted in post #11 and played with it. Here's my take.

Did some color correction using levels since the white balance is off. There's a green-n-yellowish tone to the one you posted. Then, I used a median filter on the wall to get rid of the dirtiness and texture. Then it's a little contrast and saturation, some dodging of the eyes, and very slight skin smoothing...