Swirls of purple_1
by bennettjamie

Comment:
I like this one, your best so far. Still is suffers a bit from being out of focus. Some might think it adds to the image though so take it or leave it. If you were going for a sharper image... I can see that your shutterspeed was only 1/10 so that is most likely the cause. This one would have been good to have a more wide open aperture to get your shutterspeed up. I think I would have shot this all the way open and maybe a higher ISO and see if you couldn't get the shutterspeed to 1/100 or higher. Also are you using a tripod? That can be helpful too with low shutterspeeds.

Angles_1
by bennettjamie

Comment:
This one is nice, but you have used some filters that are causing halos around your buildings. Watch that, people will pick you apart for that in challenges.

Black and White Bridge
by bennettjamie

Comment:
For landscapes you really need to up your aperture. 4 is really meant more for portraits and when you need to have a fast shutter speed for photographing wildlife. I would take it to around 8 or higher. Also the lens you are using isn't wide enough to get a good dramatic landscape (not sure if it really mattered on this one since you seem to have fit everything in the photo). As a rule on landscapes you shouldn't place your horizon (in this case the bridge) right in the middle of the photo. With a shutterspeed as slow as 1/100 you should be using a tripod to get your photos sharp. If I was taking this picture I would have upped to aperture, and upped the ISO so that my shutterspeed would be faster.

Sorry it probably seems I am picking the photo apart. It really is a nice pleasant picture. Just giving you some tips for the future.

To Match Her Eyes
by sjhuls

Comment:

Originally posted by smardaz: I didn't have the patience to read thru the whole "Sharpening" thread so not sure if you chimed in on it. Curious to know what you normally do cuz it looks good in this image compared to the raw. Personally I have used the Librodo technique for so long that I made it an action and do it without even thinking on every portrait. Maybe it's time I try something new.

I need to look at the Librodo technique I keep hearing people talk about it but have never actually seen it so I don't know if mine is even similar. First I pimp the eyes that always seems to make them look a bit sharper. Just a bit of dodge and burn. In this case only dodge because her eyes are brown and dark and didn't need any more burn. Then I apply a high pass filter(default is 10 and that is what I use) on a duplicate layer. Then I change the blending mode of that layer to soft light. Now you can mask over the parts you don't want so sharp. I only like the eyes to have added sharpness and it would take forever to mask over everything, so instead I duplicate my background layer, bring that one to the top and then just mask over the eyes to let the highpass show through where I want it.

Message edited by author 2015-01-12 00:24:28.

To Match Her Eyes
by sjhuls

Comment:
Lighting set-up for this one:


Message edited by author 2015-01-12 00:18:28.

IMG_4592
by sjhuls

Comment:
As requested by Neat I made a drawing of my lighting set-up. I thought about taking pictures of the set up but my model was being really impatient so I scrapped the idea. Instead you get a very poorly drawn diagram ;)

IMG_4592
by sjhuls

Comment:
I actually didn't process it at all. She has natural highlights in her blond hair so that helps.

portrait2
by vawendy

Comment:
I like this one the best of the three. I think the white background ones are good just more standard and maybe need a bit of softening. I agree with Michael on the right corner, its a bit too dark.

IMG_6945ed
by markwiley

Comment:
I like the color one better as well. I think I would have softened the left side of her face a bit. As well as her legs :) I like the brightness on her face but I might have toned down the bright spot on her knee. Love you background I wish I had something like that at my house to use on occasion.

rw-1
by MichaelC

Comment:
Lovely portraits of these two. I love how you have managed to get a nice soft light despite it being indoors. Did you use a flash? I don't see any signs of one and it looks like your ISO is quite high so I am guessing not. I can see catch lights in their eyes, so you must have had some light source. What did you use? Processing is very nice.