Tess
by sixmacs

Comment:
from the Critique Club:
This is a very pleasant casual portrait. The colors all blend together, like the red from the lips, the red in the blouse, the red on the sofa or chair and the red in the picture.
However, if this were a formal portrait the eyes would not be so busy in observing the color scheme. One of the objects of a portrait is to concentrate on the face. You can show more than the face, but the ultimate detail must be expended in the face. So the first thing we do is use a plain wall such as that behind the subject. Now the subject gets all the attention with no competing objects to distract. The old masters always focused on the eyes, their liquid quality should be brought out.
Let us make this a better portrait. We need the same wall and, of course, you have light from one direction so you will have to find the right wall and sit Tess away from the wall. I would even close the aperture to 5.6 so as to increase the shutter speed. Now, we take any lamp in the house and remove the cover so as to expose the plain bulb. Turn it on and find a placement behind you or near you. The eyes will pick up the highlights. Now Tess has beautiful complexion and charming eyes. We will ask tess to release the smile, wet her lips and then gently begin to curl them. The current smile is real, but it is making her eye lids contract too much. We need the lower eye lids more relaxed. We are going for a half smile. Stop at the moment that the upper lip begins to thin. At this point the facial muscles will be half what they are, yielding a more relaxed pose and we will see the full shape of the bottom of the pupils. Every little bit helps. Shift the angle of the camera just enough to eliminate her right ear from view.
A word about selections and using GB. It is dangerous to blur a background from a portrait. Even tools such as extract fall short. I do a lot of selections and it takes me valuable time to perfect it. There is no magic automatic tool. It takes a few seconds to select and at least a half to a couple of hours to make corrections. Given the choice, simplify the background before the shoot. If you look at Tess on the left you will notice the feather blur next to her hair and unto the frame. While expert PS operators use GB to recompose their dof, you need to work on at least actual pixel size. It is best to give dof a good thought than relying on PS. Outside of this critical application GB has many uses. Yes, the 5.6 aperture will increase the dof, but since the wall is plain, a couple of feet will prove no problem.
Again, your photo as is is very pleasing and can hold its own as a very good casual portrait. Reconsider, keep this current nice image but but give yourself the challenge of a redo. I know Tess is happy with this effort, she will be happier with the next. dan

The Port is on Fire
by aznym

Comment:
Great shot. The colorfull foreground plays well against the billowing smoke.

Roger the Plumber
by biggood53

Comment:
from the Critique Club:
Here you have managed to make a very good composition with an honest expression and a very good feel. The model is relaxed and very credible and his half smile is a winner. Composition=strong. Model=strong.
The weakness which prevented the full delivery is the lighting. Such strong light complicates and contaminates the color channels. Note how yellow predominates on the left and then we are left with red in the shadow. This creates what I call the roasted chicken effect and it is very easy to avoid. To shoot a portrait with unfiltered light is quite a challenge. Check out Cindy in my portraits.
I hand made a few reflectors. Simple wood frame 3 feet by 5 feet and covered them with muslin well stretched, using a staple gun. I bounce my lights of the reflectors. Let us redo your portrait and keep the same identical feel. You do not even need fancy lights. Plain incandescents will do. Place a reflector on the side of the left of the face. Of course, your left is the subjects right. This is your main light. You aim it from the opposite side but keep it as close as possible and about face level. You have a second reflector on his dark side. If you use a similar light of equal strenght you want this light further back than the main. Find the right distance, squinting the eyes help, untill you get the same ratio of contrast. In other words, the main light is boss, this is just a fill. Now, since the subject wears a hat you need to tilt the fill reflector to the oblique happy angle. Do not go too low, we do not want bottom lighting, just enough angle to bring a little light beneath the hat. If you have an extra light you can bounce it off the ceiling. If you use a meter take an incident reading. If you don't, just bracket your exposure. Now, whatever lights you use always remember to tune the white balance. Simply read your manual about shooting a white card.
Your picture will have the same light feel, one side bright and one dark, but not dark enough to hide either features or textures. The coloration will be perfectly balanced with hardly any software adjustment outside of rudimentary levels. Now, if you do not want to make reflectors simply go to art store and get a few sheets of white poster board. You have a good compositional sense and I would cash in on it by the use of reflectors. Besides they come in handy for general tabletop compositions. dan

Didi
by Rooster

Comment:
From the Critique Club:
This is a beautiful soft image. The choice of colors is soothing. The olive green and inner garment weaves a wonderful image and of course, the background adds the exotic tinge. The hand placement is to be commended and the model, your sister, very natural. You did a good job but we owe her credit because her facial expression displays a sense of serenity and a unique quiet confidence.
The study has some minor imperfections and believe me, they are minor compared with the overall strong visual effect. Let us start with the cropping. Note the bottom of her left elbow. Here we have material folding in and out and when the eye moves from her lovely face it finds this distraction at the elbow. It would have served your purpose better to crop the image right above the right elbow. The benefit is to have brought the rest of the figure closer to the viewer. The second item is that of the right earring portruding or jutting out of the chin. here you had the choice to raise the angle a bit or simply to clone it out.
The third item is not as critical and this has to do with the eyes. I take the eyes as they are, but their beauty is not displayed. This happens when an image is soft, yet many photographers magnify the eyes and touch up the highlights very subtly a pixel at a time with pure white with a 40 percent or so opacity.
A good image and certainly a good contender. You can only get better. dan

Hostage
by Beagleboy

Comment:
From the Critique Club:
This is a very strong image and presented with sheer depthness. The composition is classical, the lighting is classical and the subject is not as controversial as it may first appear, because the concept is universal. The topic if hostages runs throughout history and glorified in King Kong. It is a timeless image and would have come out with a ribbon if entered in the waiting, newspaper or open challenges such as the June.
The fact that it finished so high in the portrait challenge speaks of its superior strength. It is a photograph of strong visual impact and most important it moves the emotions despite out self control.
To have placed it in the portrait was to give away the ribbon. Yes, it can pass as a faceless portrait, but the point would have gone over the heads of many and the viewer expected a character study with a visible or discernable face.
I have nothing but praise for your image. There is always something that we wish to change in photos we see. This is perhaps the most complete image I have seen in DPC. I have not seen a ten, but I feel comfortable in placing this image at the top of the heap of DPC.
However, do not feel bad you lost out on this ribbon. You are certainly a force to be reckoned and your talent is certain to show up in future entries, over and over again. Congratulations.

Message edited by author 2004-07-08 20:06:19.

Lavender
by riley

Comment:
so delicate.....

They Don't Come Any Fresher than This!
by WildflowerJoy

Comment:
Very nice. Just a tad light at top would have made this image perfect, yet, it is a very nice shot.

No More Droped Screws
by Firsty

Comment:
Very nice and very well lit. I would have used a new screwdriver, but all the same, it is impressive.

Saint Mary's Lake
by jodiecoston

Comment:
Congratulations on your superb image. Ansel Adams would have been proud of you. Good work.

Touched by the Evening Light
by librodo

Comment:
Congratulations. You are amazing. This was my top pic. dan