Portrait of a Swede

[symo]

Hi everyone..
I would like to share this shot with you in order to receive some constructive critics!



EXIF:
Camera: Canon Eos 1000d
Focal lenght: 50mm
Lens: Canon 50mm F1,8 II
Aperture: F3,5
ISO: 250
Exposition: 0,02 (1/250) sec.
Flash: Off, Did not fire

It's my shot for a photo-contest in which i'm takin part with some friends with "Best portrait of a Swede" as theme. I'm pretty satisfied for the pic however I feel there is something wrong with her skin colour: I would like to know if you have the same feeling and maybe help me fixing it...
I'm using LR by the way

-Simone-

PS. since it's my first post please tell me if there i am somehow breaking the section's rules

[Daytonj6]

Only thing I would consider is that the left side of this image is a LOT warmer then the right...

[symo]

is there a way to fix it?

[PhotoPhix]

Originally Posted by symo

Your color at least on my monitor is to red, and I would also crop a bit tighter to get ride of the blown out area to the right of the subject.


Armando

[RLucas]

The skin is way too red. Was it reflected color from a wall or something?

[Eduard]

Originally Posted by symo

I'm using LR by the way

I don't take a lot of portraits but when I do, I find onOne's free LR presets for skin tones very helpful. You might want to add them to your toolbox and see if you like them.

Here is the link.

(DISCLAIMER: I have no commercial relationship with onOne.)

[symo]

Thanks for the example Armando, I find the changes on the skin colour much better.. actually I don't like much cropping that much even if the right side is blown out

@luke: yes behind the girl and on her right side there were lucid dark red walls!

@eduard: thanks for the presets, i'll try them

[toddybear]

I think that PhotoPhix's idea is good. It was what I was going to suggest you.

[RLucas]

I like what Armando did with the colors, however, I like your crop better.
Here is what I did.
Using Gimp, I adjusted the curves to add a little more contrast.
Adjusted the red curve in the highlight areas to remove some of the red cast
Added a simple contrast mask with an inverted B/W layer, and a Gaussian blur set to 75pix.
This seemed to even out the harsh background light.
Very slight sharpen.
IMHO, this image needed very little. I don't know if LR has layers or curves, but they are very powerful tools you can use. I like Gimp because it is free, but it does have a fairly high learning curve. I have been using it for months, and still haven't even scratched the surface of what it can do.

I will take this down if you wish.
Regards, Luke

[symo]

hi Luke,
I also used tried Gimp some months ago but right now i prefer LR. Yes, it has curves too but I prefer not to modify them becuase i've never learned how to use them properly so I'm afraid to do something wrong. I'll try once that i get some spare time..
I like your PP. However I feel the pic's too much sharp now.. in fact I tried with the "soften skin" tool in LR to soften the skin as much as i could and I like the result in my PP. I like what you did for the red colour even though I can see a blue dominant or a too cold white balance (?)
It would be great if you could post another PP with only the red curve modified and the increased contrast