An assigment to make 3 portaits of one person:

K10D, DA12-24, DA12-24, A501.7

[Ash]

#1 is my definite favourite. It's very candid and full of character, beautifully lit and well converted to B&W.
The other 2 don't quite make the mark in both posing and composition.
#2 is centrally framed, which is OK but has competing elements in the image which aren't complimentary to the photo. Her hair is also covering her R eye, and casting a shadow over the whole top part of her face. Good idea with the colours.

#3 is a decent shot, just a little impersonal and rendered with perhaps too much loss of shadow detail. It's probably the lighting but then again she has jet black hair and leave little opportunity to convey texture and detail. Her L eye is in good focus, but it has left her R eye slightly soft. Not a bad result though.

[axl]

I LOVE the first one,
very simple and VERY, VERY good!!!
edit: though on the 2nd look I think it would be even better if her face was turned just a teeeny tiny bit toward you so the nose would stay within the cheek

[fractal]

Great PP on all images and a pretty girl to boot. Last shot feels a little too cool for me. First shot is very pleasing to the eye. Well done.

[kevinschoenmakers]

#1 is my definite favourite. It's very candid and full of character, beautifully lit and well converted to B&W.
The other 2 don't quite make the mark in both posing and composition.
#2 is centrally framed, which is OK but has competing elements in the image which aren't complimentary to the photo. Her hair is also covering her R eye, and casting a shadow over the whole top part of her face. Good idea with the colours.

Actually the framing, competing elements and the hair covering her eyes is all intentional. To each his own though I guess.

#3 is a decent shot, just a little impersonal and rendered with perhaps too much loss of shadow detail. It's probably the lighting but then again she has jet black hair and leave little opportunity to convey texture and detail. Her L eye is in good focus, but it has left her R eye slightly soft. Not a bad result though.

I lightened up some of the darker parts, thanks for the suggestion:

Great PP on all images and a pretty girl to boot. Last shot feels a little too cool for me. First shot is very pleasing to the eye. Well done.

Thanks!

I LOVE the first one,
very simple and VERY, VERY good!!!
edit: though on the 2nd look I think it would be even better if her face was turned just a teeeny tiny bit toward you so the nose would stay within the cheek

I think the whole effect would have been lost if she had turned her head more towards the camera. Thanks for the compliment though

[Barnster]

I like the third,how you filled the frame with her face.I a nice natural looking image.

[kevinschoenmakers]

I like the third,how you filled the frame with her face.I a nice natural looking image.

Thanks! I'm most fond of the last one as well.

[Taff]

first one is captivating

Taff

[cupic]

The last is a fav Im presuming thats the A50f/1.7 TFS


cheers

[kevinschoenmakers]

The last is a fav Im presuming thats the A50f/1.7 TFS


cheers

I'm not sure what TFS means, but that one was indeed taken with the A50 f1.7.

[Frank Fletcher]

An assigment to make 3 portaits of one person:

None of these portraits worked for me ... until I opened my browser to fullscreen and saw them "large" on my 26" screen. (I don't know if It'd work the same if I viewed them "large" on my laptop.)

Prior to that, the third was my favorite. Now the first two are my favorites.

I particularly like the use of negative space in the first photo - though I agree that the hair may be too "heavy". The image made me think of the "beautiful woman and the hag" illusion. While the photo exhibits no illusion, the bold use of neg space makes me search the frame for more detail... My attention is then forced to between the too-dark hair and the shape of the face and neck. There are two reasons why I think I only appreciated this photo in the large version - 1) The texture of the face is only really apparent in the large version - the small version shows gross tonality but no character of skin. 2) The darkened background frames the photo itself, the border of which doesn't otherwise stand out against the light grey/white background of the bulletin board. If you were to post this on another similar background, I'd consider adding a 1 or 2px border.

Lastly, the 1st photo creates a certain tension for me because the stark contrast of the b/w, the use of negative space and the eyes leading down/off-frame, are all emo-provocative ... which contrasts with the inscrutable/impassive face. I could not advise as to whether this is a good thing or a bad thing...

However, all of the above made me look - again and again. That typically is the beginning signs of a good photo for me. I also rarely devote this much attention to reviewing a photo - so that's another good sign. I guess I like!

Nitpicks: the overexposed background, over-exposes the rim lighting on the skin - which mostly works ... except for the nose. Since the nose tip is in line with the contrasty hair, my eye considers it cut-off. It'd be better (imo) if you could regain some detail there.


Of the second photo - I like the contextual information of the futon, the tipped over stuffed animal (snoopy?) and also particularly the light-switch. the switch was needed to balance the framing element of the bookshelf or whatever it is on the right - but more than that, it is different from the light switches I'm used to seeing. That, combined with the subjects nationality and style, brings me to a foreign land. (regardless of the actual location of the photo)

Thanks for sharing.

[kevinschoenmakers]

None of these portraits worked for me ... until I opened my browser to fullscreen and saw them "large" on my 26" screen. (I don't know if It'd work the same if I viewed them "large" on my laptop.)

Prior to that, the third was my favorite. Now the first two are my favorites.

I particularly like the use of negative space in the first photo - though I agree that the hair may be too "heavy". The image made me think of the "beautiful woman and the hag" illusion. While the photo exhibits no illusion, the bold use of neg space makes me search the frame for more detail... My attention is then forced to between the too-dark hair and the shape of the face and neck. There are two reasons why I think I only appreciated this photo in the large version - 1) The texture of the face is only really apparent in the large version - the small version shows gross tonality but no character of skin. 2) The darkened background frames the photo itself, the border of which doesn't otherwise stand out against the light grey/white background of the bulletin board. If you were to post this on another similar background, I'd consider adding a 1 or 2px border.

Lastly, the 1st photo creates a certain tension for me because the stark contrast of the b/w, the use of negative space and the eyes leading down/off-frame, are all emo-provocative ... which contrasts with the inscrutable/impassive face. I could not advise as to whether this is a good thing or a bad thing...

However, all of the above made me look - again and again. That typically is the beginning signs of a good photo for me. I also rarely devote this much attention to reviewing a photo - so that's another good sign. I guess I like!

Nitpicks: the overexposed background, over-exposes the rim lighting on the skin - which mostly works ... except for the nose. Since the nose tip is in line with the contrasty hair, my eye considers it cut-off. It'd be better (imo) if you could regain some detail there.

I tried to slightly darken her nose, but it was hard not to over do it. Click for fullsize:



For comparison:

Of the second photo - I like the contextual information of the futon, the tipped over stuffed animal (snoopy?) and also particularly the light-switch. the switch was needed to balance the framing element of the bookshelf or whatever it is on the right - but more than that, it is different from the light switches I'm used to seeing. That, combined with the subjects nationality and style, brings me to a foreign land. (regardless of the actual location of the photo)

That's indeed a snoopy

Also, I like your observation about the lightswitch; I contemplated cloning it out, but decided to leave it there to balance that bookshelf (might have been a refrigerator actually, I'm not sure).

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for taking the time to write this lengthy and helpful reply, much appreciated!

[Frank Fletcher]

Hi Keven - nice "nose job" there. you're right - it's just on the edge of being over done. Also you could add more character back in if you matched the shadow of the original. it's subtle and tricky but it might be worth it.

Anyway - nice photo. Thanks again.