May as well make a spectacle of it

[billtils]

I enjoyed and appreciated the feedback on the "Anne" portraits. Mention was made of her signature eye-wear, raising the question of it being overpowering. On thinking about how to deal with that, one option that came to mind was to highlight rather than minimise it. Here is a mono conversion that I think succeeds in that. C&C welcome - including disagreement

[rpcrowe]

I cannot believe how frames like this can be flattering but, they are! Perhaps Ann has such a classically lovely face that she is attractive "in-spite" of these frames...

[Shadowman]

Bill,

I think a good exercise would be to do a sketch of Anne or visualize all the elements in the composition; that includes any panels in the background, any textures in the blouse, and most importantly the tonal range of the entire frame and where each tone resides within the frame. Does it look appealing or does it resemble a caricature and if it does is that how you want Anne to appear, is that how she wants to appear. Perhaps she likes the portraits I don't know, I just think it is always worthwhile to explore every possibility.

[billtils]

Bill,

I think a good exercise would be to do a sketch of Anne or visualize all the elements in the composition; that includes any panels in the background, any textures in the blouse, and most importantly the tonal range of the entire frame and where each tone resides within the frame. Does it look appealing or does it resemble a caricature and if it does is that how you want Anne to appear, is that how she wants to appear. Perhaps she likes the portraits I don't know, I just think it is always worthwhile to explore every possibility.

John

I think that I understand what you are getting at, especially "is that how she wants to appear" and "always worthwhile to explore every possibility".

In reverse order:
Yes indeed it is and that's in part what I have been doing with this set of posts. I have shared these images with her as it was always the intention to use the this shoot to explore settings, light and poses. For example, most were taken with my 24-85 "walk about" lens, at the more wide angle end, and I was not overly concerned with the exposure settings. The shoot later this week will be quite different, but, if you'll excuse the near pun, it won't be a "shot in the dark" occasion because of what I've learned from the first set and the feedback received here.

In regard to Anne's thoughts, they matter a lot but the question is how far to be governed by them. For example, I have looked at a traditional high-key treatment that is basically the eye-wear but am not sure how far to take it as there is a point at which it changes from a portrait to an abstract.