Is it the light that is confusing?

[Blankstein]

People,
About a year ago, my daughter won a few awards for running, jumping etc. She was tired but happy, and I was proud of her. To commemorate the event, I asked her to pose in an old frame. Which she did reluctantly – the way teenagers normally do.

I cropped and touched up the pic, and generally liked the result:


EOS 40D, 1/160, 56 mm, f/6.3, ISO: 400.

My concern is that seemingly I am the only person who likes the portrait. Neither my daughter, nor my wife like it, and my usual audience of friends all but ignored it.

What did I miss here?

[faeriegodess612]

I hope you don't mind, but I edited this in PSE9 to possibly give you an idea of what you could do with it. You don't have to take my suggestion, by all means, come up with your own way to edit it,..I just thought I'd play with it for a min and just show you what I might do with it if it were me. I'm no pro or anything so you can take my opinions with a grain of salt.

This is a quick rough edit,..just to give you an idea. This isnt nor will it be on my Flickr, hence the attachment. I want glory for my own work,...no someone else's.

[Blankstein]

faeriegodess612, thanks!
So basically you would pretty much turn it into a “regular” shot, just allowing the medals to get a bit out of the ordinary? I appreciate your feedback … but will wait for more though

[DanielLane]

I think it may be the light. The sky is very bright, but her face seems kind of flat. Not sure if its the light or the color range and vibrance of it all. So yes, I think its the light/contrast/vibrance of the image. It doesn't really pop. Like the concept though

[shahkedar]

Mate, I think your portrait is absolutely gorgeous..the concept, your daughter and the sky. I am not sure why others don't like this portrait but I reckon you should be proud of it.

Ked-R
Sydney based Wedding and Family Portrait Photographer

[edbayani]

i think the face is dark and flat compared to the sky. maybe brighten up the face.

[DanielLane]

As I was saying, she just wasn't popping off of the background. I took the shot into the photo raw tools and painted in highlights, enhanced the shadow under her chin a bit to give it definition, a little highlights to the hair, evened out the skin tones just a bit, enhanced the contrast and brightness to the frame a little. I only spent about 2 or 3 minutes on it, but you get the idea.

[kcoppock]

Just to throw my hat in the ring here as well, I think it's a creative idea, and a good portrait, but as stated, the problem is that the subject lacks contrast, while the background is well exposed. A fill-in flash would have made a big difference here, but you can simulate it pretty well in Photoshop. You could probably get a good result manipulating curves from the original RAW file if you have it, but here was my general technique in Photoshop:

Use the blue channel to mask out the sky, we'll just focus on fixing up the lighting on the girl (mask attached for example), then pull in the white point with Levels, fairly significantly. You may want to adjust the midtone slider a bit as well. You may have to adjust the mask a bit if some parts stand out from the background too much afterwards. I think the result comes out pretty well.

[jonesbob]

it's different, but in a good way/ darken the sky just a little outside the frame. I agree the blacvk outline makes it to ordernery

[wulf]

I like Kevin's boost with masking results. That certainly improves the lighting, which seems rather flat and suffering from the background being brighter than the subject in the original.

However, forget the neat idea with the frame and the medals for a moment. Would it work as a portrait without those elements? If you hadn't put time into the concept, would it have been regarded as a keeper?

I suspect the lighting would have told against it but also the fact the subject is gazing out of the frame. Her attention is elsewhere but with no clue for the viewer as to what is so interesting, which works against it being engaging. Most portraits have the subject either looking out to meet the eyes of the viewer or looking at an object which can be mutually observed.

It's possible that your wife and daughter dislike it from an another aesthetic viewpoint as well, that of your daughter's hair being all messed up. Sure, she has just been running but does she feel that she looks her best?

Wulf