Portrait of my daughter

[Stryker]

Hey guys, been a while since I posted here what with one thing or another. You know how it goes sometimes.

Here's a portrait of my nine year old daughter, Ananya. I was browsing through some photos on my camera when she walked out of the bathroom fresh after a long bath (if you have a nine year old daughter, you'll understand what I mean). I just snapped off a quick photo and then converted it to B/W. I must say I am not a great fan of B/W images, but I felt that this one looked better.

From NRI Visit

EXIF:
ISO: 640 (Auto ISO)
Shutter: 1/40 sec
Aperture: f/6
Focal length: 170 mm
Exp Bias: 0.0
Flash: Not fired

The light from the window to her left (camera right) was the only light source. It was pretty gloomy outside so the light was not too harsh.

Now the question. I am not too happy about the lighting on the right side of her face (left of image). It is quite dark and I recovered it a bit in PS to even see what you see now.

1) Do you think that the just visible eye adds to the image or do you think that it needs to be brightened up a bit more? How do I recover it further without blowing out or otherwise spoiling the image?

2) What do you think about the composition? Should I have zoomed a little less so that more of her head was visible? As I mentioned, it was a very quick point/zoom/compose/shoot image. This image has not been cropped at all.

Any inputs and comments are much appreciated.

[Bruce A]

I like the crop as it is and I do like the the split lighting on her face, but that may not apeal to everyone. You could try dodging (try with opacity at about 15% or less to begin with) the dark side of her face just a little (not just the eye), but only enough so her eye is a little more visible imo. Very nice impromptu portrait imo.

[MeAgain]

I love these kinds of shots. I take them all the time but then my family gets annoyed. "Can't you just take a 'normal' shot?" so it's not always appriciated.

Beautiful daughter BTW. What I can see of her

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by Bruce A

I like the crop as it is and I do like the the split lighting on her face, but that may not apeal to everyone. You could try dodging (try with opacity at about 15% or less to begin with) the dark side of her face just a little (not just the eye), but only enough so her eye is a little more visible imo. Very nice impromptu portrait imo.

Thanks for the comments and appreciation, Bruce. I am not too good at PS beyond the basic Curves/Saturation skills (still learning, a lot left) but I will give Dodging a go. Let me see if I can improve the image.

Originally Posted by MeAgain

I love these kinds of shots. I take them all the time but then my family gets annoyed. "Can't you just take a 'normal' shot?" so it's not always appriciated.

Beautiful daughter BTW. What I can see of her

Thanks for the compliments, Me Again. I fully understand the "Can't you just..." part. I get it all the time too.

[shauncunninghamphoto]

I love this shot. I'm a "moment" photographer and this plays directly to my liking. The fact that you just grabbed this without any forethought shows in the result (the "moment" is greatly captured; your daughter's "look" enigmatic even).

However, the con is such that you had no time to light and this is evident in her eyes. I'm not sure what you could've done differently unless you had time to prepare. Hindight being what it is, it would've been nice to bounce that natural light from camera right with a reflector towards her face for some pop and reflection in her eyes. You do have some PP opportunity though and, failing that, you could even recreate the shot. The composition is great. All things considered, this is great shot. Well done.

Shaun
Home - Shaun Cunningham Photography

[Stryker]

Good to know that you like it, Shaun. I only have my on camera flash as additional lighting, not even a regular flash forget about reflectors and umbrellas!

Don't you think it would be too artificial if I tried to recreate the pose with controlled lighting? Firstly, I am not sure if my daughter would have the patience to pose for me and secondly, we will probably never get that look exactly right.

So whatever I can do must be in PP.

/Edit: Shaun, just visited your site. Some very nice portraits in there.

[Stryker]

Pardon the double post. "Edit" is refusing to do its job for some reason.

This is the photo in the first post (included here so that you need not scroll too much):

From NRI Visit

This is the more "lighter" version. Basically, I reduced the contrast heavily (like -35 or so) and slightly increased the gamma, as well as a more careful BW conversion:

From DPS

Or do you prefer the colour version?

From DPS

I still think the darker image works simply because it is somewhat more "mysterious" if you catch my drift. But I am now unable to decide which one I like best. Is any of this worth a print?

[Bruce A]

Definitely the darker image imo. But if the dark side was lightened just a tad it would appeal to more viewers I think. There are a few ways of doing this, but using the dodge tool starting with the opacity slider way down low - maybe even 5% might work wonders and is the simplest way without using layers and brushing. Use a copy to practice getting it right first.

However, if you like it as is (I certainly do) then settle on it and be happy - it's a great shot

[Stryker]

Thanks for taking the time, Bruce. I did try dodging but it doesn't seem to do anything much. I'm sure it is me rather than PS, but still not able to get the hang of it. Maybe I should go through a few tutorials.

In any case, I'll see if I can arrive at an image that is between the darker and the lighter one, essentially a lighter darker one or a darker lighter one

[shauncunninghamphoto]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Good to know that you like it, Shaun. I only have my on camera flash as additional lighting, not even a regular flash forget about reflectors and umbrellas!

Don't you think it would be too artificial if I tried to recreate the pose with controlled lighting? Firstly, I am not sure if my daughter would have the patience to pose for me and secondly, we will probably never get that look exactly right.

So whatever I can do must be in PP.

/Edit: Shaun, just visited your site. Some very nice portraits in there.

With regards to the extra 3 versions you posted, the darker one remains the most intriguing in my opinion. Let me try to answer the questions you asked me, then I also have completed some minor PP on the jpg to show what a difference some eye reflection can make.

First of all, regarding your flash: Personally, I don't like on-camera flashes for any indoor work at all. They have limited value. I sometimes use them for "emergency fill light" in an outside shot, but that's all. In this case, a shoe-mounted flash with a diffuser cover and angled towards the ceiling would've given some nice bounce light into the eyes. As far as a reflector is concerned, a bounce disc would've been sufficient. People often under-estimate the amazing results that can be achieved by using a simple $50 bounce disc. In this case, you would've held it at floor level, camera left and at an angle that bounced the natural light from the window into your daughter face. Some creative work in PP would've allowed you to retain the dark shadow but have the reflection in the eyes that would've made all the difference (in my humble opinion anyway).

Secondly, regarding recreating the image. I agree, posing the shot is unlikey to recreate that great moment. However, if your daughter walks out of the bathroom towards the window and you keep shooting in continous mode, you might be lucky enough to catch another natural shot.

So, anyway, here's an example of the difference some eye reflection could've made. Obviously, I only had a 345kb jpg image to work with so the overall quality is not there, but I'm sure you "get the picture."

Thanks for your kind comments about my portraits too. Much appreciated.