To crop or crop or crop ;)

[Kiwi Ric]

OK chaps had abit of luck to shoot a rather lovely looking lady today, just a few tester frames. as she is keen to model for a full shoot, huzzah.. + she looks great without almost any makeup!

but anyhow, chaps the issue, to crop, crop or crop I have 3 crops of the young lady here,

the more full frame looks nice, but it has its bad fault with the top half of her chest almost cut at the nipple line (Sorry ladys dont take that the wrong way, I would say the same thing about shooting blokes)

the next crop comes in the frame, cuts out the chest, but could be a little long on the right side of the frame, "The large white section distracts a bit for me

Now the tight crop. I do like this as you can now make out how sharp the eyes are, well eye. should have shot at 3.2 but I do lose a part of the hair and the bag blue strap tends to drag the eye out of frame.

thoughts chaps and would love to hear any critque regarding the photo as a whole etc etc etc

Crop 1



Crop 2



crop 3

[Colin Southern]

Hi Ric,

#2 for me.

I tend to look through an image from left to right, and with crops 1 & 3 I don't get to the eyes until I'm across to the right-hand-side. I used to shoot/crop a lot as per your #3, but of recent I've found that I get a better result by leaving a bit of space for the subject to look into, which you've done with #2.

Clearly though, she needs a studio shoot!

[Kiwi Ric]

Thanks for that Col, number 2 was infact the first crop I made, then I started looking... the brain gears started to click in... and I sat here looking at 3 bloomin photos for 45 mins etc...... I was getting close to meltdown.... so I thought I had best ask the lads


She sounds very keen for a shoot. I will print the photo off and give her a copy of this for her to view. and things should be good from there bud

thanks again for the help

-R

[Colin Southern]

Hi Ric,

No worries

Looking at the image on my screen you might possibly have the WB set just a touch too warm -- and some of the skin on her forehead is looking a touch washed out ... you might get a little more detail there lowering the brightness slider (or using the GND tool).

I'll do you a free print if you like.

[Kiwi Ric]

Hi Ric,

No worries

Looking at the image on my screen you might possibly have the WB set just a touch too warm -- and some of the skin on her forehead is looking a touch washed out ... you might get a little more detail there lowering the brightness slider (or using the GND tool).

I'll do you a free print if you like.

Hello mate, the free print would be a ripper.

I do need to get that 24" screen. I feel this bloomin LCD is like 4 seasons in one day in regards to the tilt of the screen. will have a little fiddle or would be great if you could make the correction before print as I know you have a great colour profile system in place

Regards

-R

[Colin Southern]

Hello mate, the free print would be a ripper.

I do need to get that 24" screen. I feel this bloomin LCD is like 4 seasons in one day in regards to the tilt of the screen. will have a little fiddle or would be great if you could make the correction before print as I know you have a great colour profile system in place

Regards

-R

Hi Ric,

Just flick me the original if you like - can print anytime for you. What size would you like? (limit of 2 feet in the smallest dimension! ) Did you shoot a gray card first?

[Kiwi Ric]

You pick the print size

IN regards to the grey card, no I was a naughty boy.... hence a few corrections. I have a x-rite system and bendy foldy grey card in the mail atm.

and you want the file in Raw? to print? or would you like it in another format?

regards

-R

[Colin Southern]

Hi Ric,

You pick the print size

If you want, but I have to warn you, I don't often print smaller than 22"!

IN regards to the grey card, no I was a naughty boy.... hence a few corrections.

Naughtly boy!

I have a x-rite system and bendy foldy grey card in the mail atm.

Good boy!

and you want the file in Raw? to print? or would you like it in another format?

Usually the RAW file is best (are you using the DNG format yet by the way?). Usually the easiest way to move large files is to pop along to www.sendthisfile.com - create a free account - send the file to yourself - and then eMail the download link when it arrives.

[rpcrowe]

This is a lovely portrait of an absolutely stunning young lady. IMO, it is so much more enjoyable to shoot lovely females than to shoot less than lovely subjects of any gender; who are said to have "interesting", "handsome", or "friendly" faces.

It is unusual to photograph a young lady who doesn't really need some make-up, but you found one here. However, it is sometime advantageous to ask your female subject to moisten her lips with her tongue, providing a slight gloss to the lips, just before snapping the image

I basically like the first crop but the bright area in the background in front of her face bothers me by competing with the face for the attention of my eye. I cloned out that bright spot, used curves to reduce the brightness of the front area of the face a bit, reduced the red a bit and sharpened the image a little. I like the result a somewhat better but, post processing is in the eye of the beholder and other photographers may not like the product. I hope you don't object to my posting the result here...

[FrankMi]

Beautiful images, Ric. ...and a nice treatment Richard. A winning combination in my view!

[Snarkbyte]

OK, that does it... I am definitely moving to New Zealand

Very nicely done, Ric. I tend toward Richard's treatment regarding the crop and cloning, but the lighting on the subject is wonderful. Now, get this lady in the studio, and post LOTS more photos!

[Dizzy]

Ric, I'm in with the rest of the gang..she has that look of grace and beauty, and
I'm looking forward to your full shoot of her.

I have to say that I like what Richard did with the image, and my only detraction from
your 3 is her bright forehead area, and she has a single strand of hair hanging over her
right eye. Might be desired, but from some odd reason it grabs my attention..lol

Mike

[Colin Southern]

Hi Folks,

Just for the record, this is the image that I re-processed from a DNG and printed for Ric today ...

[Kiwi Ric]

Had a good few hours today in ol Col's Studio, was great to see the image worked on a matched screen and printer. It shows how important it is to have the correct items to process the digital photos we take. eg looking at the photo now, it looks far to bright all over with no real depth. but thats the failings of my lappy screen, so I dread to think what my efforts look like to other people

Col is a wizard on old PS and I must say it looks like a much nicer bit of software to work on vs lightroom. in regards to a few odds and ends.

and thanks Col for the large print

But very nice to see a someone using such a fantastic work flow.

[Colin Southern]

No worries Ric - when are you presenting the image to the young lady?

[Kiwi Ric]

Could be this evning heading out for a fire dancing shoot. well asked to take the photos.... Ummm if not in the next few days for sure will deff tell you the results

Regards

-R