First posted portrait. Too soft?

[Twinpanther]

This is my first portrait so any help would be appreciated but I'm starting off with softness. I smoothed her skin a bit and am wondering if I went too far.

Camera: Nikon D90
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/1.8
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash

[Nelson Clark]

I'd say you actually went to far, what technique did you use? I usually use a copied layer of the image with a surface blur applied to that layer at the top, then using an inverted mask on that layer, I then paint in the smoothing where needed with a 20% - 40% opacity brush without smoothing too much any edges so that it looks natural.

[djase1]

I would say it is a bit too soft, but what were you going for? It doesn't look bad, and that softness can work if you wanted to make it real "dreamy" looking. For me, her expression is much too serious for that kind of look. If you were making it soft to hide blemishes or other things, then there are far better techniques. i do like the composition and lighting of this shot.

[Twinpanther]

My daughter wasn't going to be my subject but here is what happened. I had built a homemade softbox with a 24" windowbox, two 6500K CFL bulbs, a dozen metal binder clips and some scrap acetate.

So, I was dieing to use it for something and my daughter just happened to come out of her room fresh from her shower and I made her sit for a couple quick shots. Hence the "Much too serious expression", lol. See folks, they don't get any happier with you taking their photos as they get older!

Anyway, this is new to me so I was going for a softening of the image while leaving the eyes clear as well as take care of some blemishes. I'll look into some "better techniques" like you mentioned. Trying to learn the more technical aspects of Photoshop as well. Thank you for the kind words on the composition and lighting. I'm going to set my SB600 up with a snoot for hairlight and I think I'll be set for now for family and friend shots so I can learn more as I go.

With much appreciation,
Paul

[Matthew_Scullion]

Crikey - at first glance I thought that soft box was a coffin!

I think maybe a little too soft also. Maybe possibly too short a DoF too, which may contribute to the softness - as part of her is out of focus (near vest strap sharp but face and far vest strap blurred), although this may have been your aim?

My technique is always to mask off the face (leaving out eyes, hair and lips) then apply Gaussion Blur. Then, using the same mask, use a high pass to bring back some skin detail. I do this in Nikon NX2, rather than photoshop, as it has control points which are pretty easy to use. You can also get a control point plug in for Photoshop though if you prefer that tool.

There are a couple of YouTube tutorial videos for NX2/Control Points if you fancy giving it a try.

Great shot btw. Was it against a black background?

[zona5101]

it's a little soft or the eyes are too sharp. it might be less obvious if the sharpness on the eyes was more subtle...

[Twinpanther]

Originally Posted by Matthew_Scullion

Crikey - at first glance I thought that soft box was a coffin!

I do this in Nikon NX2, rather than photoshop, as it has control points which are pretty easy to use. You can also get a control point plug in for Photoshop though if you prefer that tool.

There are a couple of YouTube tutorial videos for NX2/Control Points if you fancy giving it a try.

Great shot btw. Was it against a black background?

LOL, I like that. It's hereby dubbed "The Softbox Coffin".

Somehow I've never come across control points for photoshop or any PP. It makes sense of course so I'm off to YouTube now to check them out.

Background is a black bedsheet. She is about 5' in front of it.

Zona, I agree if I soften the eyes it should help. I love sharp eyes in a photo though so doing that kind of feels like going backwards.

Paul

[lputman]

Originally Posted by Matthew_Scullion

Crikey - at first glance I thought that soft box was a coffin!

Me too

I think the smoothing is a bit too much and it seems most evident around the mouth. Do you have an unprocessed one you can share. Matthew is right in the DOF, I would expect to see some blurriness with a 1.8 aperture.

[Twinpanther]

Originally Posted by lputman

I think the smoothing is a bit too much and it seems most evident around the mouth. Do you have an unprocessed one you can share. Matthew is right in the DOF, I would expect to see some blurriness with a 1.8 aperture.

I agree. I'm quickly learning that just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Everything has it's place and 1.8 here wasn't it, lol.

Here is the OOC shot with the exception of desaturation and size reduction for Flickr.

[lputman]

I actually like the un-smoothed version. Maybe a little cleaning of facial blemishes but not the overall face.