Aalia 2

[GB1]

Another of Aalia. C&C away

GB

[armando_m]

wow !
Amazing green eyes
really like the composition
the skin tone
did I mentioned the eyes ?

Seems you used a bit of fill in flash and it worked well

A couple of critiques once once I got past the beautiful photo:
The skin/makeup on the forehead looks like peeled paint, either she does it better or needs some help in PP
Some of the stray hairs can be cloned off, the one on the cheek looks more out of place

[ksbryan0]

I missed the green eyes, because the make-up is so distracting! With a little PP, you can smooth out the complexion and take care of the stray hair as Armando suggested - and it will be much improved. However the rat's nest of hair on her near shoulder is going to be harder to deal with. For a beauty shot, I think I'd select a different wardrobe ensemble...the hat is okay, but I don't think it really goes with a camo scarf and red zipper hoody!

[GB1]

Dang, you're right... terrible edit

After experimenting, I think I know what did that. For whatever reason my normal editing routine, combined w/ increasing the contrast, brought that out. The peeled skin on the forehead was a terrible spot healing job I did that smoothed it out in that area, creating that look.

Anyway, how's the new edit?

Armando, thanks for the critique. Those strands of hair were very difficult to remove. There's one that cuts across her chin and lips and my efforts to remove it (w/o making it look edited) were fruitless. I did clean up a few other strands though - better? I also like those green eyes, but they're not real (oooh!)... I think she told me she was wearing colored contact lenses. I'm also slightly uneasy about the cut off line being so close to her forehead, so I moved it up a little.

Ken, you don't like the hair on her shoulder? Looks natural to me. I totally agree on the hoody - totally bad. But it just amazes me that even when she wears unflattering clothes, she can still look good. I can only guess how good this image would be w/o these imperfections. Check out the edit - I think it's better. I wish I could up the contrast a bit more but I'm afraid to after that last episode .. I will work on a solution.

G

[armando_m]

GB, quite an improvement!

I took the liberty to give it a try and see if I could get more contrast without getting into trouble

Brought it into color efex pro
The filters I used were

skin softener on the forehead
glamour glow all over the face, just a bit
pro contrast , no color correction , about 60% contrast, except on the forehead

brought it into capture nx2
use the healing tool to remove the hair on the cheek and chin, did not touch the lips
unsharp mask, except on the forehead

let's see how it looks on the browser ... after saving the jpg a couple of times I'm not to optimistic

[GB1]

Edit ................

G

[GB1]

GB, quite an improvement!

I took the liberty to give it a try and see if I could get more contrast without getting into trouble

Brought it into color efex pro
The filters I used were

skin softener on the forehead
glamour glow all over the face, just a bit
pro contrast , no color correction , about 60% contrast, except on the forehead

brought it into capture nx2
use the healing tool to remove the hair on the cheek and chin, did not touch the lips
unsharp mask, except on the forehead

let's see how it looks on the browser ... after saving the jpg a couple of times I'm not to optimistic

Armando,

It's interesting how small edits change the feeling of the shot. I think yours, with the added contrast, has more punch. I think mine his more harmony/softness. Congrats on removing that hair cutting across the lip and chin -- how did you do it w/o making the lip look edited...? Curious minds want to know.

Btw, that Nik software is gaining popularity. I may need to investigate it one day soon.

[GB1]

Dang, you're right... terrible edit

After experimenting, I think I know what did that. For whatever reason my normal editing routine, combined w/ increasing the contrast, brought that out. The peeled skin on the forehead was a terrible spot healing job I did that smoothed it out in that area, creating that look.

Anyway, how's the new edit?

Armando, thanks for the critique. Those strands of hair were very difficult to remove. There's one that cuts across her chin and lips and my efforts to remove it (w/o making it look edited) were fruitless. I did clean up a few other strands though - better? I also like those green eyes, but they're not real (oooh!)... I think she told me she was wearing colored contact lenses. I'm also slightly uneasy about the cut off line being so close to her forehead, so I moved it up a little.

Ken, you don't like the hair on her shoulder? Looks natural to me. I totally agree on the hoody - totally bad. But it just amazes me that even when she wears unflattering clothes, she can still look good. I can only guess how good this image would be w/o these imperfections. Check out the edit - I think it's better. I wish I could up the contrast a bit more but I'm afraid to after that last episode .. I will work on a solution.

G

PS - First time I tried sending this response, I mistakenly edited one of my previous posts and wiped it out. I bet Weiner wishes he could do that (goes when you want to erase something, you can't)

[GB1]

(Second time I posted this - page seems confused)

Yep, it definitely lost detail Phil.. I'm still working on restoring it and making it look good (at the same time ). You feel that smooth skin isn't necessary for portraits? I agree that detail is usually good for portraiture, but with fashion like this I think softness keeps things light and airy.

So ignore it and it goes away, eh Armando? I attended a four hour photography presentation a few weeks ago ... multiple speakers, tons of good info, which I will soon post in ViewFinder as notes for anyone who is interested, and they discussed Nik software. Question - is this made by Nikon, or is that just a catchy name to catch people's eyes?

G

[PhilF]

Dang, you're right... terrible edit

After experimenting, I think I know what did that. For whatever reason my normal editing routine, combined w/ increasing the contrast, brought that out. The peeled skin on the forehead was a terrible spot healing job I did that smoothed it out in that area, creating that look.

Anyway, how's the new edit?

Armando, thanks for the critique. Those strands of hair were very difficult to remove. There's one that cuts across her chin and lips and my efforts to remove it (w/o making it look edited) were fruitless. I did clean up a few other strands though - better? I also like those green eyes, but they're not real (oooh!)... I think she told me she was wearing colored contact lenses. I'm also slightly uneasy about the cut off line being so close to her forehead, so I moved it up a little.

Ken, you don't like the hair on her shoulder? Looks natural to me. I totally agree on the hoody - totally bad. But it just amazes me that even when she wears unflattering clothes, she can still look good. I can only guess how good this image would be w/o these imperfections. Check out the edit - I think it's better. I wish I could up the contrast a bit more but I'm afraid to after that last episode .. I will work on a solution.

G

I think you lost some of the contours/depth on her face with your edit and lost clarity and contrast as well.
IMHO... it looks like a portrait ... so super smooth skin is not really crucial here. I would PP this as natural as possible.

[armando_m]

....how did you do it w/o making the lip look edited...? Curious minds want to know.

Btw, that Nik software is gaining popularity. I may need to investigate it one day soon.

Easy, I didn't touch the lip

and I guess the little bit that was visible got lost after saving the jpg ... twice

bought the nik plugins from adorama, they had them at a nice price, the whole thing for the price of 2 of them separately

then bought Paint shop pro at a steal price so I can use them comfortably rather than saving a gazillion version of tif files, as this things are not compatible with my main editor, capture nx2 , really can't figure why that is...

[armando_m]

(Second time I posted this - page seems confused)

Yep, it definitely lost detail Phil.. I'm still working on restoring it and making it look good (at the same time ). You feel that smooth skin isn't necessary for portraits? I agree that detail is usually good for portraiture, but with fashion like this I think softness keeps things light and airy.

So ignore it and it goes away, eh Armando? I attended a four hour photography presentation a few weeks ago ... multiple speakers, tons of good info, which I will soon post in ViewFinder as notes for anyone who is interested, and they discussed Nik software. Question - is this made by Nikon, or is that just a catchy name to catch people's eyes?

G

Nik software is a German company, it is not Nikon , perhaps they started doing software for Nikon they do sell capture nx2 , editing software dedicated to Nikon RAW files , it also does jpg and tiff , but not any other brand RAW formats

[Asmarlak]

With such a beautiful portrait, I couldn't help not trying.

[GB1]

Thanks Armando. German company eh ..

Not bad Asmarlak. It's a bit processed for me, but I definitely lean towards the conservative side. I think the contrast is better in yours. Btw, I'm going to do a little surgery on this image to replace the 'hoodie' with something more fashionable. Stay tuned --

G

[GB1]

Well, trying to edit this shot to get it 'right' might be the most maddening thing I've ever done. Here's another attempt. I cropped out most of her hoodie, then added hair over top the area I didn't crop. Of course, I needed to take a shot at correcting the other make up imperfections - easier said then done.

I wonder if the crop takes too much away from the image?

[jetrim]

GB, this is a wonderful image! As far as all the edits go, I like your final posted edit, but also like what Armando did regarding the stray hair (it only bothers me because it's a tangent off the eyebrow) and the removal of the laugh line (from nose to mouth across near cheek). Awesome work on this one :thumbsup: