Pieces of You

[bjpercy]

Hi everyone. I've been practicing more with portraits and these are some of my latest. I wanted these to be high contrast black and white but would like to get some opinions on whether you think these are just too dark or if you would suggest keeping them as is. I tried to lighten some areas of the face using Gimp but couldn't get the affect I was going for without brightening the entire face. Would love to hear your critiques/suggestions!

EXIF
Camera:Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Exposure: 0.3
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Exposure Bias: -2 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

[lputman]

I've deleted the additional photos from your post, per the critique forum rules, one photo for critique. Additionally, please add the EXIF if you have it.

[bjpercy]

Originally Posted by lputman

I've deleted the additional photos from your post, per the critique forum rules, one photo for critique. Additionally, please add the EXIF if you have it.

Sorry about that! I added the EXIF

[pgt123]

I like the composition, but the face is just too dark, and the shirt is too bright, moving my attention away from the face and onto the shirt. If GIMP is like photoshop, then you could use the fill light tool (or the equivalent) to lighten the face a bit without affecting the lighter areas of thep photo. Or you could just lighten the whole thing and then add more contrast.
If you were willing to reshoot the photo, then you could use a side light on his face (you could just use a desk lamp if you don't have anything else) to give the photo a little more drama.

[bjpercy]

Originally Posted by pgt123

I like the composition, but the face is just too dark, and the shirt is too bright, moving my attention away from the face and onto the shirt. If GIMP is like photoshop, then you could use the fill light tool (or the equivalent) to lighten the face a bit without affecting the lighter areas of thep photo. Or you could just lighten the whole thing and then add more contrast.
If you were willing to reshoot the photo, then you could use a side light on his face (you could just use a desk lamp if you don't have anything else) to give the photo a little more drama.

Thank you for the advice! I tried using the fill light tool in GIMP but it didn't turn out the way I was hoping, so I'm going to reshoot using the side light---I think that's what was missing from my first shoot and will help me get the effect I'm looking for. Thanks again

[BigFuzzy]

Originally Posted by pgt123

... the shirt is too bright, moving my attention away from the face and onto the shirt.

Agreed with the above. I very much like the tight composition but the shirt is distracting. I don't mind the face being this dark, but it don't work for me to have the bright shirt. If you can just burn that down a bit, it would be quite nice!

[bjpercy]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

Agreed with the above. I very much like the tight composition but the shirt is distracting. I don't mind the face being this dark, but it don't work for me to have the bright shirt. If you can just burn that down a bit, it would be quite nice!

Thank you! I burned down the shirt in GIMP and do like the difference it made: