Opinions Wanted

[zona5101]

So here is a photo that i did some work on. I have some specific questions if you don't mind...:


a)I was following a tutorial of "skin glow" I think it has that but I see parts of the skin appear to have lost all texture and went porcelain on me. (cheekbones for example).Instantly noticeable to you too?

b)I had two catch lights in each eye and removed one - now of course the black part of the pupil looks off to me but does it to you.

c) My biggest issue is i masked off the eyes and now I think they look too sharp, i even went back and blurred them a bit but i still can't see past them. maybe its me or maybe its the transition from the eye to the eyelid that is the killer. Look the same to you?

d) Finally, Hows the b&w conversion?

Thanks in advance.


ps a color version can be found here:
beauty dish

[Mischief]

To me it all looks good except her eyebrows are so fair they have disapeared totally. That makes the whole photo look off to me. Are you able to "burn" them a bit so they stand out a little more?

The good... The eyes! Fantastic work. I love the sharpness. The skin! Its lovely and dreamy looking. The black and white! The only thing, maybe adjust the levels and add a tad more darkness to it, its maybe a little to white? :-)

[kristenh]

the biggest issue to me is a; the others seem fine to me, but the over-smoothing (imo) jumped right out at me. i like the eyes and wouldn't have noticed a pupil problem. its a nice shot, though, like her expression.

[sk66]

To me the lack of eyebrows makes this a bit odd. I think it's a bit oversoft. What's the exif? I think you probably should have used a longer focal length.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by sk66

To me the lack of eyebrows makes this a bit odd. I think it's a bit oversoft. What's the exif? I think you probably should have used a longer focal length.

1/60sec @f8 ISO 200
shot with a 50mm on a crop body

Funny about the eyebrows because she doesn't really have much and what she does have are fair colored and obviously got lost in the edit. I can burn them in when I go back and rework this.

Thanks for the comment...I will back off the diffusion layer and see if I can find a better balance between "glow" and too soft.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by Mischief

To me it all looks good except her eyebrows are so fair they have disapeared totally. That makes the whole photo look off to me. Are you able to "burn" them a bit so they stand out a little more?

The good... The eyes! Fantastic work. I love the sharpness. The skin! Its lovely and dreamy looking. The black and white! The only thing, maybe adjust the levels and add a tad more darkness to it, its maybe a little to white? :-)

Originally Posted by kristenh

the biggest issue to me is a; the others seem fine to me, but the over-smoothing (imo) jumped right out at me. i like the eyes and wouldn't have noticed a pupil problem. its a nice shot, though, like her expression.

Thanks for the comments. I'll rework the eyebrows - and punch up the contrast a bit along with trying to find the right balance in the "glow".
thanks again.

[burntpixel]

Hey Bruce,
I'm a little late getting to the party and this image has probably already been sent to the printer ?
If not here's my take...(and it's not even worth ¢.02)

a. Yes it was noticable to me along the cheek bone and forehead areas.

b. The removal of the catch light was not noticable to me (at this size) ...eyes are nice, sharp and bright

c. No, I do not see it? Eyes again look very clean, bright and not overly sharpened. I do have echo what the others have stated about the eyebrows however. Maybe that's what's throwing you off as well ?

d. The very first thing I noticed is that you lost all the detail in the fleece collar. I would bump the contrast as others have already suggested.

Very nice portrait and steady hand at "skin glow". I'm usually not a big fan of "skin glow" but I think you've done a very nice job with it here.

[candleman]

the loss of the pores due to skin glow was the frst thing i noticed, as well as the loss of detail on he collar.

f/8 and 1/60th
why? (is f/8 your benchmark for your strobe that you work to?)

going wider on the aperture softens the skin too remember

anyway,
light looks well balanced., the pupils look fine to me.. I wouldn;t have known you did work there at all appart from the odd shape of the catchlight.

I like the sharpness of the eyes, but there is too muchdetail in the skin lost so that's why it looks funny.

I didn't notice the light eyebrows immediatley.

cute portrait though, I think it has some potential.

[burntpixel]

Originally Posted by candleman

f/8 and 1/60th
why? (is f/8 your benchmark for your strobe that you work to?)

For me I'm always shooting at or near this same setting because of sync. When I start adjusting f/stop and speed, I will sometimes get half my image show as black. I do appologize zona and do not mean to highjack your thread. I've been interested in learning this very fact and how to get away from it. I will be more than happy to edit this comment and post a new thread if you wish.

[candleman]

Originally Posted by burntpixel

For me I'm always shooting at or near this same setting because of sync. When I start adjusting f/stop and speed, I will sometimes get half my image show as black. I do appologize zona and do not mean to highjack your thread. I've been interested in learning this very fact and how to get away from it. I will be more than happy to edit this comment and post a new thread if you wish.

most DSLR's sync at up to 1/200th . Your 40D is probably one of them.
Stay at 1/200th or slower and you're safe.
Some cameras can do 1/250th

shutterspeed is almost totally irrelevant in a studio anyway provided you stay between sync speed and the point where handshake/focal length issues come into play.

When shooting manual Strobist style flash, flash exposure is only affected by ISO and Aperture.


What I was saying to Bruce was, why not open up on the aperture a bit (reducing the flash power output) and aid in softening the skin.