In Silence

[draymorton]

Humble tribute to the master, Manny Librodo. In progress.

[n8]

interesting catch lights. I really like the use of the texture.

[clayhaus]

Love the lighting on her face and the fact she is off-centre. Great DOF as well. The colours over her left shoulder alternate between being distracting and quite a nice touch. She looks to have much personality and you've done a good job of capturing that.

[Dubbs5050]

like n8 said, excellent texture...her eyes are mesmerizing ... great focus. I like the purple to the right, although it is kind of distracting......its a tough call because the purple adds to the color in her face, but it also distracts.....either way, well done.

also, I can probably live with cropping out a bit from the bottom....

[gahspidy]

Excellent portrait, love the post processing as well. One of the best I've seen from you. . .or from anyone for that matter.
Great stuff.

[jetrim]

LOVE what you've done with this one Dray! The DoF is absolutely perfect, the flag is a wonderful touch. Everything works for me, from the tilt of the hat to the burn of the vignette. Great stuff! :thumbsup:

[armando_m]

A piece of Art !

I do not have suggestion for improvement, wish one day I learn enough to do something like this

[arne saknussen]

I agree that this is pert near perfect. I think I like the purple. I know I love how the flag/stars are a bit muted and how the buttons in her hat mirror her eyes.

[draymorton]

Thanks, everyone.

The juxtaposition of faces with brightly-colored backgrounds is something that Librodo is famous for, so I thought I'd offer my take. I can see how the green/purple might be distracting to some. What if I darkened it?

Cropping out from the bottom... sure. How much?

[draymorton]

I agree that this is pert near perfect.

Great! What elements are holding it back? And are they fixable?

[arne saknussen]

Great! What elements are holding it back? And are they fixable?

I do question the purple, though I lean far more towards that it's a nice touch. Also, the difference in the texture of her skin around her chin compared to her cheeks, which gives the composition a slight unnaturalness, or maybe too much lighting on her cheeks.

[draymorton]

I do question the purple, though I lean far more towards that it's a nice touch. Also, the difference in the texture of her skin around her chin compared to her cheeks, which gives the composition a slight unnaturalness, or maybe too much lighting on her cheeks.

Cool, thanks! These kinds of things are very good to know. The texture is the same throughout her face, so it's probably that there was burning done on the chin, which brought about the appearance of more/different kind of texture. Perhaps I'll lighten things up around the chin...

[Anbesol]

Excellent work. I think the texture on the right is a tad bit much. I may be alone in that though.

[gracie_r]

Beautiful. I love it. But I haven't decided if I like the purple or not. At first I loved it, but each time I look again, I change my mind (between liking it there and thinking maybe I don't like it...).

[Bretm1]

First off, great work and I think I recognize her from some of your other shots. Very nice eyes. I like the splash of purple and green off the shoulder. Only problem is that it makes me want to spend money on a digital SLR and some decent PP software.

[draymorton]

Thanks, guys. Both the amount of texture and the purple can be worked with. Aesthetic decisions are the hardest.

Bret - thanks. This is the first shot I've posted of her, actually. And I think that one could probably get similar results with a G11 and gimp. It ain't the equipment... (you know the rest)...

[dbutler]

I love the purple. In an image that is almost monochromatic, you gave a shot of something extra. the purple and green are unexpected and actually, to me, makes me look at her even closer. Cool colors tend to recede to the eye, causing her to move forward. Gives a greater depth to the image. I love it just the way it is.

[Big Earn]

Dray, I'm still stuck in the amateure mode of photography. I've really learned to 'see' a photo from your posts, comments and critiques. So, I'll post what caught my eye when I saw first this pic...amateur's perspective. Her left eye (our right) caught and held my attention first. It kept my attention to her face for a good long minute. Thumbs up to the interesting catch lights! Then my attention kept going to area to the right of the pic. I'm not saying good or bad. Just that my attention strays to the right. Maybe that is just what you want? For us to see the entire photo? The portrait is beyond excellent!!

[Liz]

Dray - beautiful work. I love it just the way it is - including the Title. Perfect.

You should frame this one - and put it on display.

Liz