Thinking.

[Melkus]

Been wanting to do more portraits, something I would like to do more of but had to wait until I could afford some lighting gear. Here one of my oldest granddaughter. Let me know what you think and what it needs since C&C is always welcome.

[MilT0s]

Nice.

I think you can crop a bit more from the right part.

[LeoLeo]

Beautiful done Paul, it gives me that feeling of "dutch paint", but is not

I do have a slightly sense of something wrong, can't put my finger on it, maybe the face is too bright, white of eyes too white, can't tell you exactly. Very careful work and beautiful done, congratulation.

Also, I do not like too much the "border style", maybe a light gray instead of oringish tan (ocher?) and white instead of black ?(just details, not important)

Overall, well done.
Leo

[Melkus]

Beautiful done Paul, it gives me that feeling of "dutch paint", but is not

I do have a slightly sense of something wrong, can't put my finger on it, maybe the face is too bright, white of eyes too white, can't tell you exactly. Very careful work and beautiful done, congratulation.

Also, I do not like too much the "border style", maybe a light gray instead of oringish tan (ocher?) and white instead of black ?(just details, not important)

Overall, well done.
Leo

The border is a easy fix, was not sure what I wanted. She has very light skin, did not want to add much to it since to me it might not look right.

[LeoLeo]

Paul,

Border is not an issue. Maybe, and here is a very big maybe, -1/3 stop, for "face", that was my point.
Beacuse it is so subjective, my post is not "ad literam", you are the artist, you made it. It is your right to do it in one way or another. For myself, works from every angle, for sure in pring will be "slightly dark", so...

What I really like is composition, pose, expression, light, ambiance and all those overall factors, and I do not count so much in "one third of a stop".

Leo

[oleleclos]

A nice portrait with a lovely pose and expression. I think it would improve as a picture if you place the face just a bit lower and to the right. I also feel the lighting is a little harsh for a child; maybe a reflector on the right to lighten that side would have been a good idea, but you could try to lighten the shadows on the face in PP (not the background or the blouse; I like the way they blend together).

I quite like the shimmering luminousity of the face and don't think you should make that darker, especially not if this is how the model looks.

[Manfred M]

Beautiful image Paul. You've really captured that classic, timeless melancholy look. The pose works well. Nicely done!

Agree with some of the other posters regarding the border. I do like borders, as they visually define the limits of the image, but I find the one you have chosen is a bit busy and detracts from the image. A also think the face might be a tiny bit too bright, but that might just be my taste. The other thing you might want to consider is using a rim light. The hair and clothing fade into the background, and I prefer a bit more separation.

[Melkus]

Beautiful image Paul. You've really captured that classic, timeless melancholy look. The pose works well. Nicely done!

Agree with some of the other posters regarding the border. I do like borders, as they visually define the limits of the image, but I find the one you have chosen is a bit busy and detracts from the image. A also think the face might be a tiny bit too bright, but that might just be my taste. The other thing you might want to consider is using a rim light. The hair and clothing fade into the background, and I prefer a bit more separation.

Manfred I agree a back light would maybe help, did not have the cash for a 3rd light right now but will think about that down the road. I'm still learning how and where to place the two lights and umbrellas I have right now. As for the border I'm not sure what works best.

[wilgk]

Hi Paul
This is a lovely image, a really nice pose for a young lady.
I as well find the border distracts rather than adds to the overall result though.
Another idea with your lighting might be to try to use a window light as a backlight or hair light if you have a room that gets late afternoon sun, would that be worth a try?
I would still be very proud of this

[Melkus]

Ok made a few changers

[LeoLeo]

Hi Paul,

"face" looks beautiful to me, but you insist in keeping that dark border. As personal opinion, If I will buy this print, I will cut the frame and put it on a big white board. I want thiispicture to "stand up" not to be pushed back.

I did a bit of postprocessing, if ypu don't agree/like, I will delete it in a second. Is just to explain myself nothing more.



Leo

[Melkus]

Yea Leo I like that a lot, the B@W looks great. As I said I was not sure what would look right.

[LeoLeo]

Paul,

I start from a very good "original". And this is important.
All the best,
Leo

[Loose Canon]

Hi Paul!

I just wanted to say that I think this is a wonderful shot of Oldest Grandaughter. The contemplative pose is very enchanting.

When I first opened the thread and saw this, aside from being very impressed, some of my first thoughts involved some of the above comments about rim lighting and hair lighting for separation/shadow purposes. Leo showed that these things can be improved in post if one has the desire to. Also, the more I look at this, the less it seems to matter about the separation thing. This is a mood shot after all!

The digital framing doesn’t really bug me because I’m looking at it with a print hanger in mind and that would exclude the digital frame.

I think if this were my Oldest Grandaughter’s photo, I would try a tad bit of selective sharpening on her lips. I might try a bit of selective dodging on her camera right nostril. I might even try cloning out a bit of the white (camera right side from just below the ear up) background and see if I liked the results. That part might be iffy because that is giving some of the separation there that has been mentioned. So I might just try eliminating it a bit at a time (from camera right edge of the frame) and see where that led.

But no matter what else I did, I would have this one on my wall. Especially if it were my Oldest Grandaughter.

Very nice, Paul. I have really enjoyed this shot.

[Mike Buckley]

I don't think enough can be said about the creativity required to project the mood in this image. You got the hardest part down and I look forward to seeing more coming from you.

[Mark von Kanel]

Stunning shot Paul. everybody has said what needs saying, so thats it!

[AB26]

Hi Paul,

That is a beauty. Not only the young lady - the image.