Female Portrait - Please critique

[rrdjserv@earthlink.net]

Taken outside with a Canon 20D, 1/500, f4.5, ISO 800, 200mm.

http://home.earthlink.net/~rrdjserv/people/deborah.jpg

[AngelaS]

I really like the image. I think the white in the background is a tad distracting.

[Eric DeCastro]

just wondering why you needed to use 800iso outside in the daylight? and shot at 1/500?

[neil_r]

I really like this, lighting is good and she looks wonderful. It is a very sharp and I would be tempted to do a little selective softening as the overall image would be a little more flattering.

N

[rrdjserv@earthlink.net]

Thanks for you comments. Yes, I will soften it a bit. I just don't want to lose your eyes. The white in the background is distracting - it's snow. It was very cold that day and I wanted to use natural light, even though it was heavily overcast.

[Fer]

I really really like this one!

[neil_r]

Thanks for you comments. Yes, I will soften it a bit. I just don't want to lose your eyes.

You don't have to lose the eyes, make a second layer, apply gaussian blur to that, blend the two layers till you get the degree of softness that you want then use the history brush to bring back the eyes, then flatten the image.

http://www.neil-rice.com/gallery/pics/deborah.jpg

hope you dont mind

N

[Belmondo]

If you're really looking for constructive criticism, you might want to consider posting this in the 'Critique' section.

The lady has a lovely smile, BTW.

[charlesu]

I like it. well done.

[Geeeyejo]

Nice pic...

[icemaiden27]

Looks good to me...

[pdrow]

Very nice pic. I like the softening effect applied by an earlier poster. Being a dark headed female who desparatly needs her graying roots touched up, that was the first thing I noticed. It seems like she needs a root touch up right at the top of her head. I think you could do that touch up in PS much cheaper than a salon can. If it were a photo of me, I'd notice and want the gray toched up. It could be only a reflection of the sun, but it still comes across looking gray to me.

Also, her tag is showing in her shirt. I hate it when I miss little details like that in the viewfinder because I always find them when I see them larger.

It would be easy to clone out the snow, too.

I know that seemed like a lot of criticism, but I genuinely like the photo. :)
pam

[pcasciola]

Nice pic, and I especially like Neil's edit. Thanks for sharing that technique, Neil. I never used the method you just described before, but I just played around a little and WOW!!!

[rrdjserv@earthlink.net]

Thanks for all of your comments. I did not notice her gray hair, but I did see the tag in her shirt, which I almost cloned out. I wanted to see if anyone would comment on it. I appreciate criticism - it's how we all learn.

[cactusclay]

I like it, sharp, soft, either way.

[fatrat]

For no other reason then that i have been fiddling with B&W pics the last few day, i think this looks good B&W

http://members.optusnet.com.au/abracare/pics/deborah.jpg

[DOrtiz]

Really nice images and effects. I've always wondered how to work with layers, but that's a road I'll have to venture later on. Still crawling with my digital camera..

By-the-way, she has an absolutely WONDERFUL smile with perfect teeth. Very nice indeed. :-)

Regards,
Dave

[rrdjserv@earthlink.net]

Thanks again for the replies. I don't mess much with b&w, but that photo looks pretty good. Also thanks for the smooth process. I'll give it a try.

[drisley]

I actually like the original the best. Great job!
Fatrat, that is a nice b&w conversion btw.

[scottbergerphoto]

I use selective sharpening for portraits:
1.Make a copy of the picture on a new layer prior to shaprening CTRL-J.
2. Apply USM to the entire copy layer to get the sharpening you want on the areas you might want it.
3. Hit "x" to make the foreground color black
4. At the bottom of the layers palate click on the Newv Layer Mask Icon while holding the ALT key. This will hide the sharpening with a Layer Mask filled with black.
5. Hit "x" to change the foreground color to white.
6. Use the brush tool from the tool box to paint in the sharpening you want (eyes, lips). Painting with white reveals the sharpening.
7. Use the Opacity slider to adjust the intensity of the effect.
Scott

[Michaelmjc]

I liek the picture, the black and white im not too sure about. The color gives it that little bit of oomph.

[D4VE]

Very good shot IMO.
Good lighting throughout the pic, she has a nice smile and you've done a good crop. :)

[rbuttrum]

I vote for the B&W - somehow it adds to the portrait.
A nice conversion - perhaps we can learn how it was done...
Ralph

[marie]

you took a beautiful shot of her

the colour shot is best , much warmer looking
I especially like the softer effect which Neil gave to it
I never noticed the grey hairs

[Zeke]

A little post processing...

[Curtis N]

Natural smile, nice pose, great light, good composition, great shot!

[sixshot]

It is so natural. Well done.

[Bren at Bella Photography]

regarding that portrait taken with the 20D:

This certainly encourages me. I just invested in the 20D for a future in portraiture. I bought a great "how to book" yesterday and loved it for the formulas she gives you for each shot in the book. BUT I noticed her camera was called a Mamiya 645 or something similar.... (I don't think I said the numbers correctly) anyway, I read about it on line and found it is called a medium format camera. My big question that I spent hours researching yesterday is this>>>>>Does the 20D perform like that? I see from that portrait and from what we can do with photshop that we certainly can enhance things. (like the softening that was done) But how do these two camera types compare? I could not find a thread that addressed this issue. :o Feeling very novice over this one!