Winter, Plate 2

[draymorton]

Another snap for a future shoot.

[Tyson L. Sparks]

Very nice, what is the reflection in his eyes? Is it you am I seeing things?

[draymorton]

Thanks. Yup, that's me...

[LeeIs]

After seeing the 1st one, this one will get tough critiques. lol.

The first one was great in its clarity especially in the face area. this one has the snow fall interfere with his face, a minus for sure. had the snow been behind him i think it would've been much better.

In the other one the entire face was in a soft focus and the eyes were sharp, this one hast too many selective focus points. his nose is soft but his eyes and mustache are in focus. i think you should treat this one exactly as how you did the last one. get everything a bit soft and get his pupils nice and sharp.

the BG, touque (hat) and everything else is definitely a winner otherwise.

Just the face is I think too much obstructed by the flakes and has focal issues.

Edit: forgot to mention, the reflection of you taking this shot is great. love it.

[NKP68]

I like this a lot. The softness of the coat and orange hat frame the face nicely. I feel that the snow flakes cement the mood of this image. Your reflection in the eyes is a real nice touch too. The only issue I have is with the softness of the tip of the nose, unless he's made of wood and just told a lie.
Nice capture.
Ed

[armando_m]

f2.8 would likely get the nose, eyebrows, moustache in focus and still keep the nice blurry background as your are about 1m away from him?

I like the composition

[draymorton]

Thanks a lot for the feedback, guys. Truthfully, I agree with all of it. Luckily this was just a test run!

Concur that there are focal issues - and thanks, a, for providing the f/stop reference. Seems to me you can do okay at f/2 with a focal length of 85mm. I think I remember that from a previous shoot. How the hell does anyone ever shoot at 1.4? Or 1.2??

Some of the snow in front of his face was added from a second bg shot, so that can be toned down or taken out completely.

Funny about the toque... I had a bright orange cap in mind for my shoot with him and that was the exact hat he pulled out (without my even mentioning it) when I got there! Synchronicity...

Re: the other shot: don't know why the focus worked so well there, as it was shot at either 1.6 or 1.8... as far as I remember. This focal business is still a mystery to me...

[gahspidy]

I would pretty much echo Libans comments here except that i find the flakes in front of the face appealing.
As mentioned, the selective focus seems to have inconsistencies where it appears that some areas that are in the same plane of focus are in and out dramatically.
Not a deal killer for me, there is an appeal about the selectivness. It just looks a bit confusing.

One other thing I'm undecided about is the greenish hue on both cheeks.
Other than those points, I think its another portrait well done.

[draymorton]

Thanks, Gary. Again, I agree. I'm gonna try something more like f/2... at least.

Greenish hue... yeah, that was bugging me, too. Happened during the darkening process and I went too far.

"Was there a pinkish hue?"
"What? Yes, there was a hue!"

- Seinfeld

[n8]

Even as a test shot I think it looks damn cool. Dumb question perhaps, but you tone map a lot of your portraits, correct? I also like your reflection, but it also kinda gives him cat eyes.

[draymorton]

Thanks, n8. No tone mapping. I've done that a couple of times, but not often - and not here...

[n8]

No tone mapping eh? You must have a pp process that gives that kind of look, or perhaps it's just your lighting. I'm particularly thinking of your violin guy. Either way, your work is always inspiring.

[draymorton]

Depending on which violin shot it was... there might have been tone mapping. I experimented with it very briefly for a couple of shots and don't even remember how I incorporated it (I do remember that it was a very small piece of the puzzle).

In this one, it was just a couple different layers of contrast adjustments.

Thanks again.

[Danbaileyphoto]

I love this shot! It's got a great feel, and really nice environment. I love the snowflakes falling in image, and the focus on the eyes and the tight crop make for a very compelling image. Great job!