first portrait

[echoback]

How did I do? Caught in a sad moment and snapped a picture. A little airbrushing and a tighter crop but not much else done to it. Any suggestions for lighting and such for portraiture? Thanks!

[Dylan8i]

the color cast is making me not like the photo. try turning it in to a b&w photo and see what happens.

[echoback]

hey dylan, thanks for the comment! I kind of liked the sepia tone, but I converted to B&W and I really like this as well. what do you think?

[Dylan8i]

i think the b&w is alot more flattering than the sepia.

[echoback]

yeah, i think I do agree, thanks dylan!

[Devin MacShawn]

Do you think you could shrink your irises with the liquify tool? They look way huge. Otherwise great photo. I don't know if I perfer the b&w or the sepia though.

[echoback]

devin-I'm using Gimp, not PS, so I'm not sure if all the tools are the same. Do you know what the liquify tool is called in Gimp? I tried selecting the irises and then shrinking them, but that didn't work, and then I tried creating a new layer, taking them out, shrinking them and merging, but that looked horrible lol. :mad2: any ideas? b/c I do agree, they are huge. It was probably because the room was dark.

[GB1]

Echo,

I sort of like the b&w a little better, but agree that the sephia has it's own quality about it. The defused sides make it seem like an old photograph Nice touch. The contrast is a little low. I think it could have been better if she was against a white seamless bckgd so there was no distractions back there. But improvisation is a virtue. Take more portraitures, the first here is successful.

GB

[Devin MacShawn]

I'm sorry I've never used gimp so I couldn't tell you where the liquify equivilent was. I tried to think of a way to make the iris smaller before you even take a shot in a dark room, but the only thing I can think of is the red eye reducer in your camera, which would work but it might be distracting for your subject.

Anyone else know how to accomplish this?

[echoback]

GB-thanks for the encouraging words! It was a spur of the moment portrait, so I didnt have time to set up the background, but I do agree, that would have added a lot to the shot. good idea though.

Devin-oh well, thanks for giving it some thought. I will try the red-eye reducer and see what happens.

[payn817]

Ok, so I suck at post work. This is what I tried, using gimp. Dodged the whites of the eyes, and bumped up the contrast, selected the eye area and made it sharper. In the second version, I warmed up the color, and desaturated it slightly. Just my $.02, it may be worth even less

BTW, this is a quickie, if you take your time, certainly your results will be much better.

[echoback]

wow, payne, that looks fantastic!! you obviously do NOT suck at post work

I dunno, there's just something about the sepia that I just really like. i think i prefer your warmed-up version to the B&W, but that one looks amazing as well. ahh, decisions! lol. anyway, thanks!!

[Coastal Flyer]

I prefer the b/w version as well. It is the emotion of the subject that makes this photo for me. The tones are nice, the perspective is nice, cropping, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah, but it is the subject that makes this photo.

Give us one where she is smiling. She is too attractive to be sad for long.

CF

[echoback]

thanks CF! I think the B&W is growing on me lol. I'll try to get one with her smiling. you never know, it may happen hahaha.