Jennifer

[Dovrob]

This shot was taken on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh during the fringe. jennifer was sitting on the cobbles next to a word wri9tten out of rope promoting her show. Whilke talking with her I took the shot. Just minimum post shoot processing carried out.

As ever comments appreciated.

[chauncey]

She needs to be posed differently and maybe use a longer lens to de-accentuate facial difficulties.

[Dovrob]

Thanks for replying ,

Very much a grab shot, but looking closer at the facial features, especially her nose, I can see I've been less than complimentary towards her.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Geoff F]

Not bad for a quick shot, David.

I wonder if you could increase the highlights just a fraction to add a little bit more contrast and lose the slightly 'flat' look.

Be careful not to over expose her cheek which looks to be the 'danger area'.

[Dovrob]

Thanks Geoff,

I have a nasty habit of giving people "panda eyes", when I try an adjust facial contrast. I really need to work with post production. Trying to work with Lightroom, though finding the curves a trifle tricky

[Dovrob]

Thanks Geoff,

Must admit although I shoot on RAW, I'm not the best with the post5 shoot tweeks. Have ended up with "Panda eyes" in a few of my subjects, when I try to adjust contrast. I user Lightroom, though find the curves harder to work with than I was use to in Photoshop.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Dave,

Looking at the EXIF, you shot this at 45mm on a DX crop body (Nikon D80) with a ss of 1/125s, f/5 and iso 400.

That's a shade under 70mm FFE, so theoretically, there may not be that much distortion, although it is important to clarify that this 'distortion' is actually all about the distance of shooting, not the focal length - plus of course, shooting angle and which bits of the subject are closest to the lens.

On first viewing of your picture of Jennifer, I did not perceive any perspective distortion, sure it is shot quite close, but your text explains that and the angle of view is what I'd expect as 'normal' (subsequently confirmed by EXIF data).

Now it has been mentioned, perhaps she does have a slightly larger than average nose, but people come in all shapes and sizes, personally; I like what I see in her eyes - and I guess she must have liked you.

Cheers,

[nimitzbenedicto]

Hi,

As far as I can see, her pose is just right. Her face is 2/3rd angled. Her shoulders diagonal to you.
You got her faces' right side silohuette just fine. Camera height spot on.
Her nose is not jutting past her right cheek. Her face is forward enough.
Her coat lines leads to her face. Portrait framing exactly.
Her background is just as Colin recommends in his tutorial.

Lastly, you clicked it just at the right moment. Getting that serene smile and relaxed face.

HTH

[Dovrob]

Thanks Victor and Dave,
A quick boost in the confidence stakes makes a world of difference. As someone who is forever learning I appreciate comments as in this way I hope to improve.
Hopefully I learn from the comments and finally learn to slow down both whiler taking and processing my photos, which I'm sure will help me , and my photos , considerably

[Daisy Mae]

David..I really, really like it.

There's a stillness and serenity in this woman which you have captured perfectly and that in itself is a major accomplishment in the middle of the mayhem that is Edinburgh at festival time.

[shreds]

David,

Crop it above her bust, the dress is too revealing/distracting.

I don't have a problem with the nose, (bit like mine )

The serene smile really makes this shot, be proud of what you have achieved.

[Geoff F]

David, for me, using Curves is an essential part of photography. But the effect has to be subtly applied. It sounds as though you are trying to do too much at one time. Often, just the merest tweak will make all the difference to your end result.

I often combine Curves with a layer adjustment mask to apply the effect to just the required areas of an image instead of overall application. But that isn't an option in Lightroom.

Curves use advice in this CinC Tutorial.

https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...hop-curves.htm

And a lot more here (5 sections in fact) but this can get a bit more technical.

http://ronbigelow.com/articles/curves-1/curves-1.htm