New shots.

[questor886]

Hey guys I'm very new to shooting people and am working to get over some discomfort doing so. I just picked up CS5 and am learning how to process with it. Please let me know if the skin on these 2 shots is too processed.
Shooting inanimate objects is so much easier to me... lol

1.
HS1-1processed by questor886, on Flickr

Stats: Nikon D300s
Lens: Nikon 70-200 2.8 at 125mm
Apature: F/22
Shutter: 1/125
2 AB 800's used in studio, one white reflector card used as well.

I removed the 2nd shot, thanks for letting me know.

[ccting]

wow..........

[questor886]

Originally Posted by ccting

wow..........

Is that WOW!... good or WOW! that is awful? As I said I'm just learning to shoot people and use CS5 and can use all constructive critiques.

[ccting]

Well, first WOW is for the pretty girls..

2nd WOW, much better saturation? and polarized reflection from the door (2nd pic)

I am sure about the first WOW but not sure about 2nd wow, as I am just started learning lighting .

[ajax_andy]

Personally I dont like plastic looking skin and unfortunately I think you have gone too far with these pics.

I like both pics compositionally etc and feel they are very good and professional looking shots. However I always think that skin should look at least a little bit natural.

The 2nd pic isn't too bad but the top pic is very plastic looking.

That's just my opinion though and the sad thing is that magazines etc go for this look and so technically there's nothing wrong with it. If you are looking to go down this route my advice would be to tone it down a little and keep the skin looking as natural as you can whilst still smoothing out the imperfections subtly.

It comes down to personal taste though I guess and some people will like this look and others hate it.

[graciousness]

I have to agree with Andy. They are way too overcooked.

Moreover, they are orange. They look like they have been spray painted with orange tan and then set luminous on maximum. Not that I'm saying that's what happened - it's what it looks like.

You've shot them well and it will be very interesting to see these with a lot less edit.

By the way, only one photo is allowed in the critique section per day. You may want to take down that second one before the mods do or otherwise, may delete your thread.

Cheers,

Grace

[baajero]

They are both beautifully shot i am just starting with portraits and I wish mine come out this way. I still feel nervous when I shoot portraits.. I enjoy landscape and nature photography a lot more.
ok enough bable now back to the pictures.... I agree that both look over processed... you have beautiful models and don't think they need much processing... they both look a bit plastiky...

[questor886]

Funny the shot didn't look orange last night on my calibrated monitor but today it does. I must have been tired. I have toned the saturation down a bit and the color looks better. I will post the new shot tomorrow so as not to post more than one pic a day in the critique section.

When pulling in at 100% there is still texture seen in the skin, but I will reprocess with a lower level of surface blur (surface blur was only set at 28) to see how big a difference it makes. These are my first attempts at this with CS5, and that program has a huge learning curve.

Thanks for the critiques.