tainkc Loc: Kansas City

Yeah, like I am going to quit my day job. This lady was kind enough to pose for me outside of a model railroad venue. She was one of the ticket takers outside while on her break.

It did it again. It says "Download" instead of showing the thumbnail.

It did it again. It saysy "Download instead of showing the thumbnail.
Attached file:
(Download)

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

It is nice enough, but the big thing for me is that there are no catchlights in the eyes. Consequently, the eyes are lifeless. I realize this was just catching a moment, but this is a section on advanced and professional work. For portraits, those catchlights are really important.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

Interesting. I took them out. They were small and looked weird. I also had her turn away from the sun some because she was squinting and it was bugging her. It was a conscious decision on my part. Alas, you are right as usual, but I am not griping.

Thanks!

ronz Loc: Florida

Unfortunately it looks dead, a speed light off camera would have solved the problem and placed catch lights in her eyes. Try that next time...

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

Yeah, you are probably right. I could photoshop some back in I suppose. I started looking at others that I took of her and They are all the same when it comes to the catch lights. Now I am curious. With all that bright sun, why did I not have something a little more pronounced with the catch lights?

Which brings up another point. I was at a model train show. I did not bring any speed lights for that was not my purpose at this outing. Since it was a spur of the moment thing and she did not have the time for me to do any kind of lighting set up other than positioning her body the way I wanted. I was just lucky that she said "yes".

Thank you for your input. I always appreciate that.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Sorry, the skin is killing me. If you did frequency separation, lower the opacity of the texture layer, or use a smaller radius.
The highlights almost look like she's wearing glitter or something.

As for the catchlights, if you can't undo the removal, then you may just want to put something small in there. What I normally do if I end up blowing the location of the lights, but really like the photo otherwise, is to zoom way in, do some small catchlights, and add just a little highlight in the iris opposite where the catchlight is hitting it. If the catchlight is at 10:00, then put a little highlight (just dodge it slightly) between about 4:00 and 5:00. It makes the catchlight so much more realistic, than just putting a white dot on her iris.

Yes, I'd venture to say even the best people out there, occasionally miss the placement of the light source, and need a little PS help to save an otherwise beautiful image.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

I only did a little work on her forehead. The rest is just her makeup. I checked out some of the other photos I took of her. Some of which were shot at different angles and even 10ft. away with a different background. Still not much in the way of catch lights. Hmmm. I could always add some.