I need quick help

[leonaashlee]

Hi all, My granddaughter is here from NH and I only have a couple of days left of her to model for me....there's a reason that I usually do flowers...no models! Okay, so I've put photos in critique before and it can take quite some time to get any feedback. I need feedback quick from those of you who know more about portrait photography than I do...please be willing to give some real help while I still have some time to work with her. Today we were only able to work in the house due to the triple digit temps, but are planning in the morning to go out between 5 and 6 to try outdoor shots. Please tell me what I can improve with these shots?







Sock it to me....

[Vinam]

Hi leona

I took the liberty of giving it a whack... all done with Picnik premium ( which is worth every penny in my opinion. this was easy you can do it in a jiffy !



using Edit photo in flickr and loading up picnik I first worked on the color and exposure

First thing I did was adjust "colors" to remove most of the red color cast by adjusting color temp to -4 , I left some of the red in because her hair is so pretty .. I also de-saturated the photo by -5 to tone all the color down and give her skin a better tone. it might need a little less red ..I lightened the photo with exposure +5 and took a little contrast out -5 to make the face a little rounder.

I used the " Soften " effect to blend everything smoother.. softeness was at 50% and I faded it back until her hair strands became visable.. now her eyes, and teeth.. I used the Edit painting brush to return her eyes and teeth to thier orignal sharpness , settings for brush were brush hardness - 01 ( almost nothing ) and brush strenght 100% .. I adjusted the brush size to fit large and small areas on the teeth and eyes.. lastly I re-sharpended her nose diamond

if you do not have the premium version of piknic you will not have the next step, however it's not that big of a deal ... as I used very little of this effect

I used the " Orton-ish " effect to add some bloom to soften everything and lighten the edges bloom on 50% .. lighten on 35% .. and using fade until effect is no longer a distraction.. Fade is your friend with these effects and I faded it almost to 90% or hardly any at all orton-ish effect.

Since I was just playing, I added your name and a frame to show you what's possible.. you are more the capable of making all of these photos acceptable, as they are all well shot and that's where it starts ... I hope I helped .. it's actually nothing very advanced and I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT !


time to step up Leona ! we all have to from time to time, comes with the territory ! get in there and start flddling .. you have excellent photos to work with !

Vin

[Thattherebloke]

I think you have done a great job of these photos, your model looks relaxed and not staged and has a very happy atmosphere to your collection... I would not panic to much, you have done a lovely job off these.

Keep up the great shots and I look forward to seeing the outdoor set

[JodyGall]

Can you post your exif? I think you've done wonderful with the composition. It looks as if you need to work on your white balance. Here's my play at that first picture.



I didn't write down exactly what I did......but short version is: I upped the exposure, tweaked Level and Curves, messed with color balance (though I still dont' think I have it right. I've been staring at the screen too long...LOL), did a little skin smoothing on her, and then sharpened just a bit. It took all of about 3 minutes. So easy fixes with photo editing software (I have photoshop CS4, just in case you need to know). She is beautiful. I can't wait to see more pics from your next session. To me....shooting outdoors is way easier than indoors since you'll be using natural light instead of flash.

[RussHeath]

Very nice work on these, and it's always fun to have someone to photograph. I agree with the above about white balance, and while the edits are well done I think you were asking about what to change about the shoot while you still have a willing model, right?

Your light is nice and even, but perhaps a bit too even for someone with such youthful features. I think she could handle some harder edged light, at least as an experiment. From the catchlights, it appears that you have two lights at eye level at the 45s behind the camera. I would try moving one closer to her and the other further away. That will soften your key light and let the other just provide fill. Alternatively, you could you the same lights in an under/over setup with the top light being closer or more powerful than the bottom for a "beauty light" or "clamshell" setup. Just a few suggestions to try while you have someone to play with . . .

Best of luck! Be sure to show us your results.

[leonaashlee]

Thank you all so much, and I will be sure to check the lighting changes....
I thank you all for the kind comments.

[kencaleno]

I reduced the redness of the skin,while retaining the tan:

Image>Adjustments>Selective color
Reds
drag magenta slider to left

Applied a soft focus effect with gaussian blur:

[kencaleno]

Originally Posted by Vinam

Hi leona

I took the liberty of giving it a whack... all done with Picnik premium ( which is worth every penny in my opinion. this was easy you can do it in a jiffy !



using Edit photo in flickr and loading up picnik I first worked on the color and exposure

First thing I did was adjust "colors" to remove most of the red color cast by adjusting color temp to -4 , I left some of the red in because her hair is so pretty .. I also de-saturated the photo by -5 to tone all the color down and give her skin a better tone. it might need a little less red ..I lightened the photo with exposure +5 and took a little contrast out -5 to make the face a little rounder.

I used the " Soften " effect to blend everything smoother.. softeness was at 50% and I faded it back until her hair strands became visable.. now her eyes, and teeth.. I used the Edit painting brush to return her eyes and teeth to thier orignal sharpness , settings for brush were brush hardness - 01 ( almost nothing ) and brush strenght 100% .. I adjusted the brush size to fit large and small areas on the teeth and eyes.. lastly I re-sharpended her nose diamond

if you do not have the premium version of piknic you will not have the next step, however it's not that big of a deal ... as I used very little of this effect

I used the " Orton-ish " effect to add some bloom to soften everything and lighten the edges bloom on 50% .. lighten on 35% .. and using fade until effect is no longer a distraction.. Fade is your friend with these effects and I faded it almost to 90% or hardly any at all orton-ish effect.

Since I was just playing, I added your name and a frame to show you what's possible.. you are more the capable of making all of these photos acceptable, as they are all well shot and that's where it starts ... I hope I helped .. it's actually nothing very advanced and I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT !


time to step up Leona ! we all have to from time to time, comes with the territory ! get in there and start flddling .. you have excellent photos to work with !

Vin

Sorry, but it looks too false, Ken

[kencaleno]

Originally Posted by JodyGall

Can you post your exif? I think you've done wonderful with the composition. It looks as if you need to work on your white balance. Here's my play at that first picture.



I didn't write down exactly what I did......but short version is: I upped the exposure, tweaked Level and Curves, messed with color balance (though I still dont' think I have it right. I've been staring at the screen too long...LOL), did a little skin smoothing on her, and then sharpened just a bit. It took all of about 3 minutes. So easy fixes with photo editing software (I have photoshop CS4, just in case you need to know). She is beautiful. I can't wait to see more pics from your next session. To me....shooting outdoors is way easier than indoors since you'll be using natural light instead of flash.

Sory Jody, but you lost the tan. Ken

[weezerisrock]

Originally Posted by kencaleno

I reduced the redness of the skin,while retaining the tan:

Image>Adjustments>Selective color
Reds
drag magenta slider to left

Applied a soft focus effect with gaussian blur:

Maybe its just me, Ken, but what you did to the picture made her look very orange. Jody's edit was my favorite and looks the most natural. Also, while I think you are great at helping people out and showing exactly what you did to get to where you were, I don't think that your comments on the other people's who tried to help are very appropriate. While they may not have done the edits the way you did, they still look great. I think both of their edits are well done and both give a different feel for the photo.

Leonaashlee I think you have some really winning poses here. I would double check your white balance, if you shoot in raw this should be a very easy thing to fix. If you don't, just double check it while you have a couple days left to shoot!