My first portrait shot. My Dad! Your thoughts?

[Lippy Biscuit]

Hi all

This is my first post on the site and thought I'd get some feedback on a recent shot I took of my Dad.

I have de-saturated the shot in Photoshop to make it B&W and have upped the contrast slightly and cropped it.

What are you thoughts?

Rebecca

[Lippy Biscuit]

If somebody could also tell me how to correctly attach my picture to my post that would be good too!!!!

I have attached a link below to view it but would be good if the image was visible in the post.

Cheers!

Rebecca

[bradzo66]

Hi Rebecca welcome to dPS, Nice shot of the old man , you obviously worked out the attach part yeah? What works best is to upload from somewhere like flickr which allows you to post a larger image that people dont have to go to the trouble of clicking to open , also when asking for critique you need to add yr EXIF (camera and shot info) as it helps people see yr settings and suggest better ones if they think thats where the problem lies with yr image . I think your composition is quite good and yr Dads eyes are a great point of interest ,although it appears to be a little soft around his beard , I thought this was a DoF issue but his hair seems sharp and without EXIF it is hard to tell what it is , overall this is pretty good and I like the B&W . All the best

[Lippy Biscuit]

Thanks for your feedback!

The camera is a Canon 400D and the settings I used were f/5.6, ISO 100, shutter speed 1/125 with a 55mm lens - will remember to put them on the future!

I see what you mean about the softness in the beard. Not sure if there is a way of spot sharpening specific areas on a photo? Any ideas anyone?

Bec x

[Lippy Biscuit]

Just tried spot-sharpening with the adjustment brush in Lightroom 2 but it was already at maximum sharpness for some reason?? Weird cause I don't remember sharpening the picture at all when adjusting it??? Odd.

[bradzo66]

Its not that bad and doesnt really detract from yr image , just being critique section you get a little pickier than normal . I dont even know your Dad but there is a real warmth to yr image of him and I imagine that you guys like the way it turned out (??)

[Lippy Biscuit]

My dad is, indeed, a very warm person! And fun too. He was actually climbing out of a canal when this picture was taken (hence the wet hair) after launching a home made canoe that he'd built, which sank! So he was a bit of a reluctant model but I don't think it shows in the picture!

Anyway... I digress..... yes we were both pleased with the picture. Especially dad who was concerned I'd leave it as a picture of him climbing out of the canal! Amazing what some strategic cropping can do! He was pleased with the image and so was I! I especially like the light in his eyes.

Thanks again for your comments!

[bradzo66]

To be honest it was his eyes that gave me the impression he was a warm person , you can just see it , great job and I'm glad the sinking of his canoe had a happy ending . All the best

[EOBeav]

Those eyes sparkle. Great job of capturing them.