Friend

[Digital]

Posted this pic a while back. Did some PP in LR. Thought I would post it again.
C&C most appreciated, and welcomed.
Bruce



I just realized after I posted this is that I have a "dark hole" behind the subject's left (as you face it) shoulder.

[Digital]

#2

[Snowy55]

Hi Bruce, I prefer the first portrait of your friend. It is nice and clear with the subject in good focus and with a pleasant background. Good skin tones and positioning of the gentleman too. Once thing that comes to mind that could improve the shot would be to have the chap button the collar during setup. The shirt is designed to have a buttoned collar and with it unbuttoned it just adds a very slight distraction.

[Digital]

Hi Bruce, I prefer the first portrait of your friend. It is nice and clear with the subject in good focus and with a pleasant background. Good skin tones and positioning of the gentleman too. Once thing that comes to mind that could improve the shot would be to have the chap button the collar during setup. The shirt is designed to have a buttoned collar and with it unbuttoned it just adds a very slight distraction.

Thank you Barry for viewing, and your kind comments.


Bruce

[John 2]

Definitely the first one for me Bruce. The vignette in the second is a little heavy. Nicely posed subject and a nice shot.

[Digital]

John, thank you for viewing, and your comments.


Bruce

[Brownbear]

Nice photo... Great focus and light, and I like the mood you captured.

I wonder if lightening/fading away the background would work better than darkening it.

[Digital]

Nice photo... Great focus and light, and I like the mood you captured.

I wonder if lightening/fading away the background would work better than darkening it.

Christina, thank you so much for your kind comments.


Bruce

[Mike Buckley]

Bruce,

I definitely like the first one a lot more than the second one because I rarely like obvious vignettes. The background of that shot has a bright vertical area between two darker areas. Is that a result of the light or the post-processing?

[Digital]

Bruce,

I definitely like the first one a lot more than the second one because I rarely like obvious vignettes. The background of that shot has a bright vertical area between two darker areas. Is that a result of the light or the post-processing?

Mike, it is a result of the light. I did not discover this "two-tone" background until after I had posted it. Hence, the second pic was posted where I attempted to darken the entire background.
Thank you for viewing, and you comments.


Bruce

[Digital]

I experimented with different backgrounds. This is one of them.
Bruce

[Mike Buckley]

My preference would be the first one with the middle stripe of light in the background darkened to blend in with the two dark areas at the side of it. Part of my thinking is that the unbuttoned collar goes better with the informality of the pose, as I think the pose with the grey background seems more formal or at least less relaxed. The first image looks as if it could be a candid shot when he was engrossed in a conversation taking place among people beyond the frame, whereas the grey background makes me think it is a posed studio shot.

[Brownbear]

Hi Bruce,

The grey background reminds me of a photo hanging in a board room. My editing skills still need a ton of work but I couldn't describe what I meant, so I thought I would try an edit... And even though my editing skills need a lot of work still, perhaps it will be a helpful visual tool and then you can do it better (Or better yet, try what Mike has suggested )

I selected around the gentlemen ( my selection skills are not great so you can see a line).. then I inversed the selection, lightened the shadows 25% and increased the midtones a tad.

Then I put the elliptical marquee tool around the gentleman, feathered the selection by 50%, inverted the selection, chose a white fill, 20% soft light.

I tried to clone some of the branches from the top middle onto the left hand side, but it was a total mess so I skipped that, but I expect that perhaps you could do it better than I can.

Here is what I visualized but couldn't do well.



And just for fun... (and practice)

As above (except for the marquee thing) decreased the shadows and brightness until it was black, then I put a gradient map on the photo, and converted to B&W...

[Digital]

I sharpened this photo in CS6.

[Snowy55]

I prefer the original background Bruce.

[Digital]

Mike, and Christina, my editing skills are archaic compared to yours. Thank you all so much for your efforts on my behalf.
As you can see from the last two posts, this is a different pose so the BG is a little different.

Bruce

[Digital]

I prefer the original background Bruce.

Barry, I believe my last post was the best yet, not withstanding Christina's very kind edit.

Bruce

[Brownbear]

Bruce, I like this last post... the best... and much better than my edit (although I kind of like my b&w version)...

Didn't I just see an excellent edit of your on a moose?

[Digital]

Bruce, I like this last post... the best... and much better than my edit (although I kind of like my b&w version)...

Didn't I just see an excellent edit of your on a moose?

No, Christina, that was Richard. Your and his editing skills are much better than mine.

Bruce

[Brownbear]

Oops... Well, if I can do it, so can you... Using Lightroom 4 has helped me to learn a lot.. and also from all the help I've received on this forum, and just by reading other posts.

No, Christina, that was Richard. Your and his editing skills are much better than mine.

Bruce