Boyfriend's portrait

[phaslab]

Hi.
Just a random picture I took today.
I shot in aperture priority (I kept it high because I actually wanted a blurry background, we ended up taking the picture right in front of the wall though). Here is the EXIF:

Camera Canon PowerShot SX110 IS
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/3.5
Focal Length 10.3 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias +1/3 EV
Flash On, Red-eye reduction
X-Resolution 240 dpi
Y-Resolution 240 dpi
Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.4

And here is the photo:


65 by ᴧ phaslab, on Flickr

The sky was very cloudy, and it was really hard to find a spot with the right light and a not distracting background. The SOOC was underexposed in my opinion, even though I used a (very soft) flash. I tried to fix the exposure and fiddled with the curves to lighten up the face a bit, which resulted in blowing out the wall. Personally, I find the "general effect" ok, but somehow it doesn't look right. Also, I'm not sure about the left part of the face. Too dark? The focus does not convince me either.
Is it a lost shot?
Thank you in advance.

[Tina Thompson]

Is this a lost shot? By no means. It is a good shot, albeit one that apparently leaves you somewhat dissatisfied....but in a way that is good because it says you're trying to grow as a photographer.

I went to Flickr and looked at this shot in its largest size, so I'll base my thoughts on that:

The "blown out wall" is okay, all it was going to do for you was provide texture, as we see to his right and behind. IMO it's not a necessity because compositionally, it doesn't add anything necessary to the main subject of your photo. Does it help provide some context of place? Yes, but keep in mind viewer like myself will not know the where and since the texture we do see doesn't provide a lot of information about that, then what we don't see isn't really missed.

Is the left side of the face too dark? No, not necessarily, as the detail extends all the way into the eye, where it is lost thanks to him having dark colored eyes and/or his pupils being dilated in low light. Still, if you would like to restore some apparent brightness there, a touch of alteration on the Shadow/Highlights area would do the trick. I see you use Lightroom, which I am not familiar with, but I do know in Photoshop it wouldn't be hard to do that and/or put a wee touch of dodging onto your target areas as well.

Truly, IMO in my opinion it is so close that it's a taste decision more than a technical necessity. I do know that the asymetricity of the lighting on his face gives it depth, and that if you "opened up" the right side you would have a flatter, less three-dimensional photo.

Focus, that's something I would consider improving, as the acutance was somewhat dissatisfying when I saw the largest edition you posted. I would like to see more here, and that would be a great task for an Unsharp Mask or better an application of the Nik Software Sharpener Pro filter. The latter is expensive, but I have found it more than worth its price especially when final output is considered.

Overall, I see a quite good photo here, but one you might improve upon by revisiting it if you think you can do better. I also think that it would look good in print form and that if hung the areas you consider blown out would be beneficial to draw your viewer's eyes towards your subject.

[xxrayna]

I like the focus of this photo and the lighting on your boyfriends face. I'd like to see this one in color. The black and white works but I think in color might be better (i'd have to see it though).

My only complaint would be that his left ear (photographers right) is slightly blown out with the wall. Though I wouldn't have noticed this if I hadn't opened it up in flickr.

[phaslab]

Tina and xxrayna, thank you so much for your advice.
xxrayna, here's the color version, SOOC. I don't really like it. I thought the colours were nothing special, so I converted it to black and white.

[DanaLane]

I actually really like this shot. Sure, the "rules" say parts are a little blown out, his head is cut off, too much negative space etc... but I think is works well here. I like the B&W better, though I'd consider cropping maybe just a little higher on his forehead.

His eyes fall in a great spot in the frame, though I'd probably not photoshop in the pinpoint catch lights, and I like the lighting ratio.