Is This Picture Ok? I Don't Think The Subject Liked It

Ok, what's TFCD?

I think its an ok shot...colors are bright and clear and focus looks good...it looks a little underexposed on her face, but that may have been your goal to make the face clear and not blow out the side of her hair. Those are nitpicks, really....besides the fact that she's a beautiful girl.

If you're not sure, I'd ask her. Tell her that if for no other reason, you'd like to know what she liked or didn't like about it so that you can improve in the future. Use it as a learning experience.

And, maybe she liked it but is having a bad day, you know?

I agree I would Love to get this quality.

DoodleBunz wrote in post #6423726
Ok, what's TFCD?

Time For CD. Instead of paying a model money, you exchange their time for a CD of the pictures.

Alright, thanks for the positive comments everyone.

Looking at it again I'd brighten it up, the problem is I did most of the work on this on a laptop and they tend to be a bit brighter depending on viewing angle. I need to start doing my levels and color adjustment on my desktop machine then move to my laptop so I can sit in front of the TV while I do the rest.

Anyhow I'm glad you all liked it and I feel a lot better knowing I'm not completely way off on it.

Kurt

While I don't personally know her (so I don't know what she "normally" looks like,) I'm guessing she didn't like her facial expression. Otherwise the shot is nice, other than maybe too much head tilt. The older a woman gets the less you want to tilt their heads.

Benji

Some people will like your stuff and others won't. And - not every "bad" photo is the photographers fault.

I don't see anything bad with this shot. The biggest thing I see is she's a bit dead in the eyes. You could help that slightly by doing some dodge/burn work there. Also, do the same to her hair - on the darker side - to put a highlight or two in there. Nothing strong, as the sun is coming from the other way - but a minor highlight or two there could add a lot.

And - convert it to a contrasty black/white and see what ya get.

There is a hint of magenta in the shot - see what you can do to correct that. The b/w conversion would take care of it, obviously.

I like the photo a lot, I think it is clear and portrays her nicely. The only nitpick I would say, and maybe a reason why a female wouldnt like it is because the pose makes her neck pop out in a weird way on one side. You would be suprised what females freak about.

I hope you don't mind I did a little edit. I used the liquify tool to correct the chin problem (not really a problem but you get what I am saying). If you like I will delete the photo, I just thought I would should you rather than trying to explain.

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iClickPhotography wrote in post #6423838
Some people will like your stuff and others won't. And - not every "bad" photo is the photographers fault.

I don't see anything bad with this shot. The biggest thing I see is she's a bit dead in the eyes. You could help that slightly by doing some dodge/burn work there. Also, do the same to her hair - on the darker side - to put a highlight or two in there. Nothing strong, as the sun is coming from the other way - but a minor highlight or two there could add a lot.

And - convert it to a contrasty black/white and see what ya get.

There is a hint of magenta in the shot - see what you can do to correct that. The b/w conversion would take care of it, obviously.

These are really awesome suggestions, I really see what you mean with all of them. I'm going to give these a shot tonight and I'll update with my changes.

Thanks a ton for this.
Kurt

savone wrote in post #6423860
I like the photo a lot, I think it is clear and portrays her nicely. The only nitpick I would say, and maybe a reason why a female wouldnt like it is because the pose makes her neck pop out in a weird way on one side. You would be suprised what females freak about.

I hope you don't mind I did a little edit. I used the liquify tool to correct the chin problem (not really a problem but you get what I am saying). If you like I will delete the photo, I just thought I would should you rather than trying to explain.

It's np! I appreciate the edit. I need to get my Image Editting OK turned on. The edit you made really helped the picture. I'm no skilled liquifier by any stretch but I'm going to give this a go myself tonight on the full res and see where it gets me.

Thanks for your help!
Kurt

I don't think there's anything wrong with the original exposure -- the cropping is oddly tight for the position of her head, but I dont think any of that is why she didn't like it.

I just think she doesn't look particularly good in it. The pose wasn't flattering with her flesh pressed and twisted like that, and her eyes are lacking expression, and she's doing something stupid with her mouth.

You can only shoot what's there... but it is your responsibility to direct your model into a more interesting/flattering​/expressive pose. It is then her responsibility to listen to that direction and provide the result.

Nothing wrong with the shot, but really nothing right about it either. From her point of view, I can see why she feels it doesn't 'sell' her, and I bet she's more critical of herself about that, than she is of you (and if she's not, she should be).

Does this happen to be the tightest crop you provided?

It is not the image so much but the angle of her head in relation to her neck that is probably her complaint. Some folks do not like the 'broken neck" look (sorry that is what it is called). Her head angle is most likely what she has issue with. Other than that not a bad image at all.

This is the tightest crop, I used this one because I don't really have any close up portraits in my portfolio of pictures and I wanted a chance to try more detailed face retouching work.

She also didn't have any close up portraits so I thought it would work out for both of us.

I can see what you're saying more now about the right side of her face (camera left) along the jaw line and how it is unflattering.

This is the uncropped version for reference:

I like the looser crop myself.

Pretty young lady, though, and your work is quite solid.

OT a bit -- But, what's up with all the tats and piercings these days? Sometimes, it seems everyone under 30 goes that direction now.......

(I'm gettin' old!)