First attempt at Portraits

[atai]

Hey everybody,

These are my first real attempts at portrait photography. I've had some experience with landscape and nature photos and wanted to know what you all think of my portrait attempt.



There are a few more links on that page if you are interested.

Anyways, I'm wondering how do you know if you've processed your photo too much? I brought this photo to school recently to touch it up and noticed the colors were horrible. After seeing the color on a different monitor I felt like maybe it would be better to stick to black & white for portraits because it seems like it's easier to keep the look consistent on different monitors.

Do you think my portrait is over-processed? What do you all generally prefer for portraits black & white, Sepia, or? How are my compositions? Any other feedback would be great.

Thanks!

Edit: forgot the exif data

Camera Nikon D5100
Exposure 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture f/4.5
Focal Length 82 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash No Flash

[Killjoy]

Originally Posted by atai

Do you think my portrait is over-processed? What do you all generally prefer for portraits black & white, Sepia, or? How are my compositions? Any other feedback would be great.

Over-processed? Yes. I love processed photos. This is too much though. I am missing a lot of the details that could make this photo amazing. Could you upload a stock photo? I would also love to see it black and white and it being touched up a tad. (Not too much)

[atai]

Here is the original. Its been converted from RAW to JPG and shrunk down in size.



One of my issues with non black & white photos is that if you are looking at image from any other source that is not my monitor it will look different to you due to different configurations. I suppose that'd also be an issue in b&w but the image more or less looks the same. I'm not sure if that's the case here but I saw a HUGE change from my work monitor at home and the monitors at school.

Anyways here you go. I'm curious to see what you will do to the photo and hopefully I can learn a thing or too

EDIT: Oh yeah, if you click the link of the first image, there is another link in the flickr page that will take you to a black and white version.

[Killjoy]

Here you are.
Here is the .psd it you want to also.
6128066023_a7957a8ef0_b.psd

[3bayjunkie]

the man in thebackground is too distracting. i would have asked him to move

[vorlon1]

I like this photo very much. He's homeless, he's isolated in the frame. The texture of his hair and beard looks metallic, like wire, it's stark and not the usual human texture. I like the contrast of the red in the lighter, an inanimate object, with the ashen shades of the man, who is alive, but somehow less so. This is an interesting image, and the original you used to create it, in my view, is not; just a couple of guys doing nothing interesting. I do think you can use color effectively in portraits,of course, , and not just have to go with sepia or b and w, but it depends on circumstances and what you're trying to do. Thanks for the interesting picture and the opportunity to comment.

[atai]

Thanks for all the input.

Killjoy: I actually started with something like that but ended up getting sucked into the editing trying to get more contrast haha.. In your psd, you have multiple transparent layers between adjustment layers, is there a reason for doing this? I really like the vignette, makes it feel old timey.

3bayjunkie: I generally like to have my subjects pretend I'm not there when shooting so the photo looks more spontaneous and less posed. I definitely see what you're talking about though. I attempted to blur him out a bit in photoshop but trying to select the hair on the main subject was just too difficult for me.

Perhaps shooting at a wider aperture would help? I don't have any fast lenses so I'm not too sure how much this would help blur the background, especially since these guys were sitting next to each other.

vorlon1: Thanks! I agree with you, the original photo is not very interesting. I felt that the colors from the original were not vibrant enough, and there's just something about shooting homeless in black & white or sepia that makes them pop more, in my opinion. Do you think this original could have potential in color? I'm curious to see what you guys see

[SGToliver]

hmm, the original image is over done in my opinion. Also, I know you don't plan on selling this image but think of the ethical issues raised by taking photographs of the homeless. Although you may have taken a great shot (in theory) you are taking advantage of the mans plight to further your career/hobby etc. Unless you are taking photos of him to help his cause or show the world the mans story I would not take photos of underpriveleged people. This, however, is only my opinion!

[Rentham]

Originally Posted by SGToliver

Also, I know you don't plan on selling this image but think of the ethical issues raised by taking photographs of the homeless ... Unless you are taking photos of him to help his cause or show the world the mans story I would not take photos of underprivileged people.

I agree.

There is something about the image that seems exploitative to me. Ideally portraits should convey something about the subject. Their story, their character, etc. This is probably more along the lines of street photography, and I'll leave others to debate its merits in that genre.

[atai]

Interesting points. I don't quite understand what you guys mean by the photo being exploitative. To clear things up I got permission from both these guys before I shot, but I have a feeling that's not what you guys are talking about. Care to elaborate?