Square Portrait

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Absolutely too close! Looks like her outfit is supposed to contribute to the picture (I can make out some matching) but you can't tell that with the framing.

Also, focus on the eyes is ever so slightly off. It appears the eyebrows have the sharpest focus. If I'm being honest the whole thing looks like a picture of your kid you took semi-candidly then zoomed in and cropped only the face into the frame.

Jarvis Creative Studios wrote in post #16280307
Absolutely too close! Looks like her outfit is supposed to contribute to the picture (I can make out some matching) but you can't tell that with the framing.

Also, focus on the eyes is ever so slightly off. It appears the eyebrows have the sharpest focus. If I'm being honest the whole thing looks like a picture of your kid you took semi-candidly then zoomed in and cropped only the face into the frame.

I shot this with my old rebel and an 18-200 Sigma lens close as I was sitting across from her.

it was a candid shot and you are spot on with the focus point--right eye, upper corner.

I was going for a head shot; from your first comments, I should have pulled back...???

Thanks for the feedback and your accurate assessment.

Wow! WAY WAY WAY too close! I agree with everything Jarvis said.

I'd crop closer off the top - just to 1/2 of the hat brim. Nothing wrong with a tight shot that is focused and well done. Good job I say!

rivas8409 wrote in post #16280583
Wow! WAY WAY WAY too close! I agree with everything Jarvis said.

Based on the comments (which I appreciate), it appears the "fill the frame" or " tight" should not be the approach for Portraits/headshots?

I was trying for a different look during the picture taking and post production

I think there might be some barrel distortion to the image which will make her look "too close". I don't know what focal length you used but it appears like there's too much space between her eyes. I did a quick edit where I corrected for what I thought was caused by barrel distortion and to my eyes, she looks more natural then.

I think you can successfully do tight headshots, but I think the square framing also contributes to the perception of you being too close. If this had been a 16:10 ratio frame with your daughter's face to one side of the frame, I think it would have looked better. It wouldn't have corrected the focus issue, but it would have looked less crowded and more natural.

To illustrate, I've attached a photo I took last year of my daughter as she came off the school bus on her first day back from school. I'm not saying my daughter's portrait is any better than yours. It's a tight headshot, but I think the framing makes it look less "close".

Try resizing and reposting. I think what may also be contributing is that the phot is so big.

rivas8409 wrote in post #16281775
Try resizing and reposting. I think what may also be contributing is that the phot is so big.

resized; iso was 400, F5, 63mm, 1/60 on XTi

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^^ I think that looks pretty good actually. I played with it a little in LR5. I hope you don't mind since you had Image Editing OK. I may have over-sharpened a bit if you look at the edge of the hat. If I had a RAW file, it would look better, but you get the idea.

lehmanncpa wrote in post #16284713
^^ I think that looks pretty good actually. I played with it a little in LR5. I hope you don't mind since you had Image Editing OK. I may have over-sharpened a bit if you look at the edge of the hat. If I had a RAW file, it would look better, but you get the idea.

NP on editing, that is what the forum is for; I had applied some skin smoothing at one point then back it off to retain some of the freckles--looks good

bpietrzak wrote in post #16289923
NP on editing, that is what the forum is for; I had applied some skin smoothing at one point then back it off to retain some of the freckles--looks good

Thanks. I wanted to keep some of the freckles, but I've learned that when the eyes aren't as sharp as say the eyebrows, nose or cheekbones, one way to make the eyes pop and appear sharper than they really are is to soften the other facial features. It really does makes the eyes appear sharper. It's a give and take, I guess. If I had PS, I could probably apply sharpness to just the eyes and make them appear sharper without softening as much the rest of the face. This was all done in LR5, so processing is limited.