Human Sculpture

[Manfred M]

I'm finally getting around to trying a concept I saw a number of years ago. The image melds a studio model with some Art Nouveau architectural elements I photographed in Riga, Latvia a couple of years ago.

Thoughts and comments would be appreciated. This is definitely still a work in progress.

[escape]

That’s a WOW for me. I like everything about it.

[Round Tuit]

That's a WOW for me too. I think that I would like it even more if more than the face was in focus.
The model is very pretty by the way.

[Tom Barry]

Surprising and very well done, indeed.

[Manfred M]

That's a WOW for me too. I think that I would like it even more if more than the face was in focus.
The model is very pretty by the way.

Thanks André - the face is actually quite sharp, but I have done a slight Gaussian blur that I can cut back. That was to give me a better platform for some of the blending but I might have gone too far, especially on the right side. I still need to output sharpen the final product.

Yes the model is pretty, but what you are seeing is half her face only. To make my job easier, I copied half of her face and then flipped and joined the two haves together. There is a tiny bit of softening at the seam as well I can look at cleaning up. This allows me to graft in the architectural features once and use them on both sides of the face.

This is the first time I have ever attempted something like this, so there is a lot of trail and error / learning curve going on right now.

Thanks for the comments!

[Manfred M]

Version 2 - Mostly rebuilt the top of the head and did not add a texture to the image.

I'm still not 100% happy, but am getting closer.

[pschlute]

I prefer version 2 with the top of the "head" more in focus.

[Manfred M]

The other approach I am considering is going in very tight with a square crop.

[Round Tuit]

I find the square crop that you used a bit tight. Cropping the bottom of the original frame just above her shoulders would work better for me.
I would also consider removing some of the minor flaws that are now symmetrical around the vertical axis but keep some on one side only.

[Manfred M]

I find the square crop that you used a bit tight. Cropping the bottom of the original frame just above her shoulders would work better for me.
I would also consider removing some of the minor flaws that are now symmetrical around the vertical axis but keep some on one side only.

Thanks again Andre, for your thoughts. I did crop down to where the top of her jacket was showing and I cloned that out. I will look at showing a bit more neck, but found that the deep colours of the clothing a bit distracting.

I'm also going to go back and clean up her ears (they were deliberately softened through a Gaussian blur) and improve the transition of the stonework at the top, especially on the left hand side. These defects are much more apparent in the closeup view.

I'm pleased that the first tries at this technique worked out as well as they did. The next time I try something like this, is should be a lot better and take a lot less time to do. There are a few Photoshop filters I used here that I had not used much in the past.

[lovelife65]

I like this. I have green eyes myself are hers really that green or did you “enhance” them.
I wonder also how it would look with a dark background.

[Manfred M]

I like this. I have green eyes myself are hers really that green or did you “enhance” them.
I wonder also how it would look with a dark background.

Thanks Sharon - her eyes area actually blue, so I definitely played around with them to make them look a bit strange without being totally weird.

This is the original shot I was working from, at leas the left side of the image (pretty well straight-out-of-camera). The image was strongly back-lit, as you can tell with the transparency of her ears and the way the light wraps around the neck and face. This would look "wrong" with a dark background, although I looked at applying textures to the image, but discarded that idea too.

[Urbanflyer]

I love to see your playfulness. This is an interesting concept. Consider eliminating the detail grafted onto the cheeks? Is she getting ready to join Capt. Picard?

[Manfred M]

I love to see your playfulness. This is an interesting concept. Consider eliminating the detail grafted onto the cheeks? Is she getting ready to join Capt. Picard?

From a concept standpoint, that is something I looked at, but found I needed something to tie in the architectural elements from the top part of the head to the lower parts into the face. Here is what the no cheeks looks like.

[rpcrowe]

Love this! Great job Manfred!

[William W]

Great job.

Bravo.

***

I've also seen this genre before, never tried it.

The images I have seen work the whole body, I should imagine that's a real effort - I reckon just the face would be arduous.

. . . what you are seeing is half her face only. . .

I was going to ask about that - it was one of the first elements that struck me - 'she's symmetrical!'. At first glance I was not sure whether that's odd or not.

Pondering on it - I think it's a positive, for this type of work.

I am so much used to faces not being symmetrical, when I see symmetrical, I automatically reel: there's a lot of it in Advertizing Imaging, which annoys me.

WW

[Manfred M]

I was going to ask about that - it was one of the first elements that struck me - 'she's symmetrical!'. At first glance I was not sure whether that's odd or not.

Pondering on it - I think it's a positive, for this type of work.

I am so much used to faces not being symmetrical, when I see symmetrical, I automatically reel: there's a lot of it in Advertizing Imaging, which annoys me.

WW

Bill a couple of people who know this model asked me if it was who they thought it was.

In my opinion there are two advantages of the symmetry in this type of work: it is meant to look artificial.

1. It cuts the work in half as the effects can be mirrored as opposed to be created from scratch; and

2. People's faces are not symmetrical so we unconsciously recognize that something in not quite right and in my view that enhances the impact of the final image,

[Manfred M]

I've now reached the 80% point on this work. At this stage I will sit on it for a few days or even a week or two and think about what I still need to do to polish it a bit more. At this point I actually leave the image open in Photoshop and will click over to it when I am working on other stuff to try to figure out what I still don't like about it and will then go on and continue refining it a bit.

[mugge]

This is, in my opinion, one of your very best images and excellence should always be more scrutinised. My beef is that the left side of the model's face, high on the cheek bone, is slightly darker than the corresponding area, right side of the image.

There are two spots on each side of the model's nose that I do not think ought to be there.

I think this could be a long process before you are finished with this image and I am looking forward to other versions and, of cause, the final image.
Cheers Ole

[lovelife65]

This is, in my opinion, one of your very best images and excellence should always be more scrutinised. My beef is that the left side of the model's face, high on the cheek bone, is slightly darker than the corresponding area, right side of the image.

There are two spots on each side of the model's nose that I do not think ought to be there.

I think this could be a long process before you are finished with this image and I am looking forward to other versions and, of cause, the final image.
Cheers Ole

Ah, Ole caused me to relook, and yes, nailed it.
I'm also not to thrilled with the ears, they are distracting.... not natural looking.