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Professional and Advanced Portraiture
The Tea Party
Jun 29, 2018 11:20:13   #
BrentHarder Loc: Southern California
 
When I posted this photograph I got a response from CO and this is what he said:
I like the full color version the best. You might post this also in the Professional and Advanced Portraiture section. Mr. Shapiro and CaptainC , who manage the section, give expert critique.


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Jun 29, 2018 14:15:59   #
CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver
 
I would prefer to critique just one image, but let's take a look.

The fuzzy blur vignette is applied right over the faces of the ladies and that is because the composition of those ladies has their heads forced up agains the top edge of the photo. Were this to be framed, the frame would come down into their foreheads. The faces are also the darkest parts of the image and the is no life in the eyes (catchlights) whatsoever.

That big brown/tan section of the dress on the left is strange. I am not suggesting is was not there, but it is a distraction on what a viewer would think is a white dress. One advantage of the subdued color image is that the brown stuff is not as prominent.

I can understand your desire to include all of that dress on the left, but it really compromises your composition by forcing the ladies to the upper right. If the intent is a portrait of the two ladies, then ignore all that dress and make sure the subjects are well-composed and properly lit. Everything else is secondary/supportive.

The cracked overlay is a bit heavy-handed iMO. Textures can be used to enhance the look and feel of an image, but they need to be there without being noticed as a part of the image—if that makes any sense. In this case, the first thing I noticed was the texture and then the blurring of the ladies heads.

One minor thing is the yellow pillow on that white chair. In the color version, it is brighter than the faces and draws one's eye to it for no reward. Were the faces lit properly, then I think that might not have been an issue.

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Jun 30, 2018 02:15:56   #
BrentHarder Loc: Southern California
 
CaptainC wrote:
I would prefer to critique just one image, but let's take a look.

The fuzzy blur vignette is applied right over the faces of the ladies and that is because the composition of those ladies has their heads forced up agains the top edge of the photo. Were this to be framed, the frame would come down into their foreheads. The faces are also the darkest parts of the image and the is no life in the eyes (catchlights) whatsoever.

That big brown/tan section of the dress on the left is strange. I am not suggesting is was not there, but it is a distraction on what a viewer would think is a white dress. One advantage of the subdued color image is that the brown stuff is not as prominent.

I can understand your desire to include all of that dress on the left, but it really compromises your composition by forcing the ladies to the upper right. If the intent is a portrait of the two ladies, then ignore all that dress and make sure the subjects are well-composed and properly lit. Everything else is secondary/supportive.

The cracked overlay is a bit heavy-handed iMO. Textures can be used to enhance the look and feel of an image, but they need to be there without being noticed as a part of the image—if that makes any sense. In this case, the first thing I noticed was the texture and then the blurring of the ladies heads.

One minor thing is the yellow pillow on that white chair. In the color version, it is brighter than the faces and draws one's eye to it for no reward. Were the faces lit properly, then I think that might not have been an issue.
I would prefer to critique just one image, but let... (show quote)


Thanks so very much CaptainC for taking the time to point out all these points that I was not focusing on or even thought about. Each point that you mentioned has merit and I am happy to recognize every one. This is all a learning experience for me and everything you mentioned makes perfect sense. Thanks again CaptainC.

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Jun 30, 2018 12:02:24   #
E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada
 
Hi Brent, Thanks for posting theses images.

Cliff's critique is a very comprehensive analysis of the images so their is very little else I can expand on. I would therefore, like to make some suggestions for your future projects in portraiture.

You have, with theses images, made an effort to create what we used to call "Genre portraiture", that is, portraits with a theme, perhaps a retro or old fashioned look and the inclusion of props and other elements to tell a story. Personally, I love that style, however, it places much more onus on the photographer to maintain many of the principles that Cliff mentioned, especially directing the viewer's eye to the subjects, the main motif of the PORTRAIT.

As Cliff mentioned, props, clothing and all the othere elements must remain subordinate to the subject and special effects must be very subtle. My experience is that when photographers begin making theses kinds of creative portraits they start to assemble the props and and plan special post-processing effects that would enhance the mood- things like texture screens and vignetting. The tendency, at the outstart is usually a bit of OVERKILL- that is perfectly natural. My suggestion is to certainly start off with all the props, clothing, and processing ideas and then go to a process of elimnation to simplify things and yet still preserve the the genre or style. The concept is to suggest the background and prop elements rather that emphasize any of these components.

As per story telling- If you could reshoot the lovely ladies, I would like to see them relating to each othere rather than eyeballing the camera. If the were facing each other and engaging in some action like pouring tea. A profile view of both or one of the ladies with the the main lighting coming in at about 135 degrees to the camera/subject axis would add depth and drama to the image and perhaps sufficiently underexpose the background detail to the extent where it is suggested rather than "literal".

In the area of iconic photographers of the past, I am a big William Mortensen fan. In my old analog darkroom, I had dozens of texture screens and nowadays, my TOPAZ plug in is reminiscent of theses classic textures. The issue is, however, that overuse of these textures can be distracting or look like dermatitis or complexion flaws. If you decide to add textures, choose one that is proportionatly smaller to the subjects and apply it in a lesser percentage of the exposure time (in analog work) or the equivalent technique in digital processing as per opacity of the texture. There are also methods of applying the texture to the background or othere elements and reducing or making it form the faces of the subjects. Main thing- it needs to be very subtle. I have oftentimes incorporated textures or canvas mounting of portraits but I don't want the results to seem like imitation paintings- I just want some of them to have a painterly look by suggestion.

Funny thing- I use the same process of elimination method for my commercial still life work in food and beverage photography. I start off, literally with a mountain of props- just about everything including the "kitchen sink"- bowls, baskets, antique tableware and cookware, flowers, ingredients etc. Usually, at the end of the day, most of the stuff goes back to the prop closet and only a few items are needed to complete the composition and suggest the theme or style of the recipe.

Looking forward to more of your work- post again often.

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Jul 1, 2018 21:12:19   #
BrentHarder Loc: Southern California
 
E.L.. Shapiro wrote:
Hi Brent, Thanks for posting theses images.

Cliff's critique is a very comprehensive analysis of the images so their is very little else I can expand on. I would therefore, like to make some suggestions for your future projects in portraiture.

You have, with theses images, made an effort to create what we used to call "Genre portraiture", that is, portraits with a theme, perhaps a retro or old fashioned look and the inclusion of props and other elements to tell a story. Personally, I love that style, however, it places much more onus on the photographer to maintain many of the principles that Cliff mentioned, especially directing the viewer's eye to the subjects, the main motif of the PORTRAIT.

As Cliff mentioned, props, clothing and all the othere elements must remain subordinate to the subject and special effects must be very subtle. My experience is that when photographers begin making theses kinds of creative portraits they start to assemble the props and and plan special post-processing effects that would enhance the mood- things like texture screens and vignetting. The tendency, at the outstart is usually a bit of OVERKILL- that is perfectly natural. My suggestion is to certainly start off with all the props, clothing, and processing ideas and then go to a process of elimnation to simplify things and yet still preserve the the genre or style. The concept is to suggest the background and prop elements rather that emphasize any of these components.

As per story telling- If you could reshoot the lovely ladies, I would like to see them relating to each othere rather than eyeballing the camera. If the were facing each other and engaging in some action like pouring tea. A profile view of both or one of the ladies with the the main lighting coming in at about 135 degrees to the camera/subject axis would add depth and drama to the image and perhaps sufficiently underexpose the background detail to the extent where it is suggested rather than "literal".

In the area of iconic photographers of the past, I am a big William Mortensen fan. In my old analog darkroom, I had dozens of texture screens and nowadays, my TOPAZ plug in is reminiscent of theses classic textures. The issue is, however, that overuse of these textures can be distracting or look like dermatitis or complexion flaws. If you decide to add textures, choow one that is proportuncatel smaller top the subjects and apply it in a lesser percentage of the exposure time (in analog work) or the equivalent technique in digital processing as per opacity of the texture. There are also methods of applying the texture to the background or othere elements and reducing or making it form the faces of the subjects. Main thing- it needs to be very subtle. I have oftentimes incorporated textures or canvas mounting of portraits but I don't want the results to seem like imitation paintings- I just want some of them to have a painterly look by suggestion.

Funny thing- I use the same process of elimination method for my commercial still life work in food and beverage photography. I start off, literally with a mountain of props- just about everything including the "kitchen sink"- bowls, baskets, antique tableware and cookware, flowers, ingredients etc. Usually, at the end of the day, most of the stuff goes back to the prop closet and only a few items are needed to complete the composition and suggest the theme or style of the recipe.

Looking forward to more of your work- post again often.
Hi Brent, Thanks for posting theses images. br br... (show quote)


E.L.. Shapiro, I want to thank you and Cliff for taking the time to analyze and share your thoughts on these photos. Everything you both say makes so much sense and I don't feel as though I was raked over the coals either! I can tell that your ideas are shared only in the spirit of helping me to improve and I have learned much from this short photo session experience. Thank you again. I feel like I have gone to school and actually learned things for my next photo session and post production work. You guys are cool!

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Jul 5, 2018 15:49:32   #
bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana
 
The critique was dead on. As for the choice between the color and the less saturated one, I would definitely go with the less saturated one, which is a style I like anyway, but with an image like this, it suits it perfectly, and helps to take away from the odd beige color on the left.

It's really not just the PP work, bring in some OCF, even speedlights with a simple trigger, and get them as close as possible without being in the frame, and you can bring more light and life into their faces.

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Jul 14, 2018 19:08:44   #
papa Loc: Rio Dell, CA
 
Personally, I feel that the vignette ruins the image.

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