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I really like this, an interesting portrait of an interesting face. I'm a big fan of mono but on this occasion I think you are right about colour being best. Not sure why you have added any noise to the image? But may I suggest just a little bit more contrast before printing just to bring out the detail a little more.
Actually, this is an image I would have been proud to take, all of the above is just nit-picking, its a winner and deserves to be printed and framed.
Andy
Actually, this is an image I would have been proud to take, all of the above is just nit-picking, its a winner and deserves to be printed and framed.
Andy
There is a superb image in here, but the image lacks punch and could be quite incipid as a print unless printed with some skill. The face is a reasonable density but the rest of the image looks a little over exposed, almost like a vignette.
Not sure what you gained by adding noise. That could add to the overall lightness? I would increase density a touch, possibly contast too, and if the density is not there then in the clothes, I would be doing a bit of work with the burning in tool.
Care though. You are pretty close to a very fine image here and my feelings may not be that of others. Mino would also be good here.
Paul
Not sure what you gained by adding noise. That could add to the overall lightness? I would increase density a touch, possibly contast too, and if the density is not there then in the clothes, I would be doing a bit of work with the burning in tool.
Care though. You are pretty close to a very fine image here and my feelings may not be that of others. Mino would also be good here.
Paul
I reckon that you took an extremely strong portrait here, but I suspect that your processing does not show it to full advantage.
Looking at the structure of the image - what strikes me is the angle of the eyes and equally of the mouth. Wry, sad, knowing. She's watching her family and maybe she thinks it safer to keep some of her thoughts to herself... She's a gem of a subject.
Caps, hats with brims, umbrellas - they can all be a boon and a curse to photography. I like the diagonal of the brim, it combines with the upturned collar to frame the face and also it allows the lady her privacy.
I don't think the bleaching has worked. The light patch on the crown of the hat is a distraction, and the effect on the skin is to give a strangely cold magenta cast.
Could you upload the original please? As a version or a modification. It always helps to see the original of an image that has received radical processing.
As this stands, my instinct would be to crop a slice off the top, convert to straight mono and add a bit of dark vignetting.
Moira
Looking at the structure of the image - what strikes me is the angle of the eyes and equally of the mouth. Wry, sad, knowing. She's watching her family and maybe she thinks it safer to keep some of her thoughts to herself... She's a gem of a subject.
Caps, hats with brims, umbrellas - they can all be a boon and a curse to photography. I like the diagonal of the brim, it combines with the upturned collar to frame the face and also it allows the lady her privacy.
I don't think the bleaching has worked. The light patch on the crown of the hat is a distraction, and the effect on the skin is to give a strangely cold magenta cast.
Could you upload the original please? As a version or a modification. It always helps to see the original of an image that has received radical processing.
As this stands, my instinct would be to crop a slice off the top, convert to straight mono and add a bit of dark vignetting.
Moira
Andysnapper – The noise was added as the original was very clean so adding a little noise I felt added a little interest and feeling, making it gritty. Just a personal taste.
Thanks for the contrast advice. I will try that. I really need to get my monitors calibrated properly.
Thanks for your kind words. It's one of those moments that she was 'just there'
Paulbroad – I'm glad you like it. I'll try the burn tool. I just thought by taking out some colour from her cloths that would leave the focus on the face.
Mrswoolybill – I had to bend down really low as she was sitting down. She has something. She was looking away but also opening up oyster shells.
I have a few more where the eyes are covered by the brim of her hat. Gives her a totally different perspective from this image.
You mention a magenta cast. I don't see that on my monitors, but maybe they need calibrating. Your B&W is wonderful. I will upload the original.
Thanks for your advice.
Thanks for the contrast advice. I will try that. I really need to get my monitors calibrated properly.
Thanks for your kind words. It's one of those moments that she was 'just there'
Paulbroad – I'm glad you like it. I'll try the burn tool. I just thought by taking out some colour from her cloths that would leave the focus on the face.
Mrswoolybill – I had to bend down really low as she was sitting down. She has something. She was looking away but also opening up oyster shells.
I have a few more where the eyes are covered by the brim of her hat. Gives her a totally different perspective from this image.
You mention a magenta cast. I don't see that on my monitors, but maybe they need calibrating. Your B&W is wonderful. I will upload the original.
Thanks for your advice.
Thanks for the original Ian.
Its a good study of the womans face. The original shows the shot is underexposed. You added the -1/3 because of the bright hat, background, but the camera had already got this covered; so to exposure the face, you needed a +1/3 or so.
Its easily sorted in post processing.
The original did have a cast, both from auto white balance having to struggle a bit, but also due to the colour of the light filtered by the hat. Its not terribly bad though.
I loaded a selection box of mods, starting with the original colour.
Regards
Willie
Its a good study of the womans face. The original shows the shot is underexposed. You added the -1/3 because of the bright hat, background, but the camera had already got this covered; so to exposure the face, you needed a +1/3 or so.
Its easily sorted in post processing.
The original did have a cast, both from auto white balance having to struggle a bit, but also due to the colour of the light filtered by the hat. Its not terribly bad though.
I loaded a selection box of mods, starting with the original colour.
Regards
Willie
I've been away for a few hours - my, things have been busy! It's generally the sign of a good upload when it attracts this many modifications.
Thanks for uploading the original, Willie's first mod from it works best for me as a colour image. He has managed to brighten the eyes very subtly, I struggled there because of the added noise in the upload.
I think b&w is the way to go though. Somehow it always seems more respectful to aged faces, because it shows structure in the face. That conveys character rather than the ravages of time...
Moira
Thanks for uploading the original, Willie's first mod from it works best for me as a colour image. He has managed to brighten the eyes very subtly, I struggled there because of the added noise in the upload.
I think b&w is the way to go though. Somehow it always seems more respectful to aged faces, because it shows structure in the face. That conveys character rather than the ravages of time...
Moira
The starting point is a lovely character study. Good work.
And thank you for the original - far easier to work from than a version that has been significantly processed.
I've done a mod that uses two simple tools on the face, plus a general tweaking of highlights and shadows in Levels (well worth just playing with the sliders there. See what happens!)
I've used the burn tool on shadows in the lower half of her face, and the dodge tool on highlights everywhere on her face. This effectively increases the contrast locally, to bring out character even further. I also burned in the top left corner.
I might try a mono conversion, and maybe a grainy version - though when I add noise, it's a bit like being next to the speaker stack at a rock concert...
And thank you for the original - far easier to work from than a version that has been significantly processed.
I've done a mod that uses two simple tools on the face, plus a general tweaking of highlights and shadows in Levels (well worth just playing with the sliders there. See what happens!)
I've used the burn tool on shadows in the lower half of her face, and the dodge tool on highlights everywhere on her face. This effectively increases the contrast locally, to bring out character even further. I also burned in the top left corner.
I might try a mono conversion, and maybe a grainy version - though when I add noise, it's a bit like being next to the speaker stack at a rock concert...
Mrswoolybill - The B&W now the more I look at it really is standing out. Lovely look. The subtle changes have made a real difference to the image.
Dudler - Love your mod. Looking at all of them, there haven't been too much modifications, but what have been done have created so many different variations of the same image and I really appreciate all the advise given in this post.
The real prize was to find this lady who just seems to naturally have a face that tells a story. Faces have really caught my interest and I have never appreciated the face or portraiture work until I really started to focus on this line of interest this year. I'm a new boy on the block but I'm learning fast and it's great for all the feedback.
Kind regards to everyone.
Ian
Dudler - Love your mod. Looking at all of them, there haven't been too much modifications, but what have been done have created so many different variations of the same image and I really appreciate all the advise given in this post.
The real prize was to find this lady who just seems to naturally have a face that tells a story. Faces have really caught my interest and I have never appreciated the face or portraiture work until I really started to focus on this line of interest this year. I'm a new boy on the block but I'm learning fast and it's great for all the feedback.
Kind regards to everyone.
Ian
