did my friends senior portraits

[thedirtyknapkin]

my friend couldn't afford a professionally done senior portrait, so i did them for her for free

here they are

[ibclare]

Very nice. She should love them.

The only thing I'd critique right off is the BG. I think it ought to be darker and recede a bit. At least in the top one where it is busy. But the way you work with the depth of field is good.

[Tom Mann]

I agree with Clare's comments.

This is nit-picking, but I would also comment that in the 2nd image:

(a) there are some odd colors around the inside corners of both eyes;

(b) the skin in shadow near her hairline is a bit too red; and

(c) the lighting on her face has been so evened out that the sense of depth is almost completely gone. I would blend back a bit of the original to recover some of the sense of depth.

Nice job!

Tom M

[ibclare]

Good observations. I agree Tom.

I wonder if that redness is an artifact of compression? Or too far on the levels or some other adjustment perhaps? I think the skin tones are overall too red. Whether that is an adjustment, or an original tone that needs adjustment, IDK. I suspect it is post production though. I think your idea will help a lot to put depth and proper color back. Maybe needs some color balance?

[Tom Mann]

Again, I agree with Clair's comments, especially about the extreme redness.

My guess is that this image has already been subjected to quite a bit of post processing, hence the artifacts that Clair is referring to. I would exercise a lighter touch with the processing, with most of my effort directed to adjusting contrast and balancing light levels (eg, foreground / background, bringing the viewer's eye to the face instead of the coat, etc.).

In the attached image, I've tried to illustrate the direction I would take this image, if it were mine. Unfortunately, I couldn't do much to improve the three dimensionality without spending a lot of time painting in shadows. With respect to the compression artifacts, there wasn't much I could do with them either, so the image still is a bit rough and gritty, especially around the mouth, but with access to the original, this would be no big deal. BTW, I also didn't want to spend the time it would take to remove the tree directly in back of the subject's head, but that's another change I would suggest (hopefully at the time of shooting, not afterwards).

HTH,

Tom M

[ibclare]

I've tried to illustrate the direction I would take this image, if it were mine. Unfortunately, I couldn't do much to improve the three dimensionality without spending a lot of time painting in shadows. With respect to the compression artifacts, there wasn't much I could do with them either, so the image still is a bit rough and gritty, especially around the mouth, but with access to the original, this would be no big deal.

Very good job. You're a pro. Nice example for dirtynapkin to use. And not to cast aspersions on your talent or work dirty. You made some cool images.

BTW, I also didn't want to spend the time it would take to remove the tree directly in back of the subject's head, but that's another change I would suggest (hopefully at the time of shooting, not afterwards).

LOL, I hadn't even noticed that.