Portrait

[Javier]

[Manfred M]

Another nicely thought out and executed image, Javier. Again, the comments here are quite picky.

1. A black background is challenging to do with a single light, especially with a small light source like you are using here. The light drop-off, especially on the hair and to a lesser extent with the body ends up blending into the background. That is generally not desirable in a portrait.

2. Distractions - the fabric you are using as a prop picks up the light and detracts from your subject. If this were my image, I would definitely burn those areas down fairly aggressively to put more emphasis on your model's face.

3. A small, hot light source brings out specular reflections. Those above the camera right eye and eye lid are very distracting and the ones to the right of the nose and chin could be taken down a bit too.

4. I might do a bit of dodging in some of the darker areas of the body and hair to bring them out a touch.

Here are what my quick edits look like:





If you click on the image to open it in Lightbox mode, use the arrows to toggle back and for between the original and my edits to see the impact on the image.

[lovelife65]

Very nice work Javier. Beautiful portrait. In addition to the eyelids, I notice a couple issues with the lips as well.

[Manfred M]

In addition to the eyelids, I notice a couple issues with the lips as well.

Generally we are okay with hot spots on lips, as lipstick is designed to be reflective (waxes and reflective materials in the lipstick itself) and specular highlights are expected. The amount that is viewed as acceptable varies, some people prefer more, others less. Hot spots on skin are often not accepted, especially in beauty shots or portraits.

Shoot an athlete with perspiration and it is viewed as being good. Photographers that do portraits of athletes often have a spray bottle with (warm) water or sometimes a water / glycerine mixture to simulate beads of perspiration.

[rpcrowe]

One thing that bothers me a bit about this portrait of avery lovely lady is the portion of arm (?) growing out of her head...

I also opened up her hair to separate it from the BG...

How about this?



I don't know if the cure is worse than the problem in that the veil seems to be stretched up by itself...

What do you think?

[lovelife65]

Generally we are okay with hot spots on lips, as lipstick is designed to be reflective (waxes and reflective materials in the lipstick itself) and specular highlights are expected. The amount that is viewed as acceptable varies, some people prefer more, others less. Hot spots on skin are often not accepted, especially in beauty shots or portraits.

Shoot an athlete with perspiration and it is viewed as being good. Photographers that do portraits of athletes often have a spray bottle with (warm) water or sometimes a water / glycerine mixture to simulate beads of perspiration.

Thank you Manfred, makes perfect sense. Obviously your expertise is far stronger than mine