Couple of portraits for C&C

CONMIKE12

I can't decide which one i like better so any comments or tips would be great.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/conmike12/184024589/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/conmike12/184024590/

Thanks for viewing guys.

AdeleS

Hi Conor, I really like them both.. I'd be very proud if they were mine;) If I had to choose between the two, I would definitely choose the second one. I prefer the colour on the second one and the fact that it is closer. Well done:)

CONMIKE12

So how about telling me how you have produced those seriously amazing images that you have put up on flickr recently?

440Hz

Yeah lovely shots conmike, nice to see a different take on a traditional portrait, I llike the tones in the second one as well!! Great work

masteroftherealm

CONMIKE12 wrote:

So how about telling me how you have produced those seriously amazing images that you have put up on flickr recently?

Totally in agreement!!
AdeleS you owe us an explination!!

Ruu_Old

Great portraits, well done indeed. I prefer the first one actually.

Shrimp

They seem far too fake, not that that can't work, but in this case I don't think it does. To be honest, when you are new to portraiture, It's probably a best to go au naturale. Not to say you shouldn't try it... but perhaps you'd get better results the other way.

antifuse

I agree with Shrimp. A nice effect, but looks FAR too fake. Personally, plain old portraits work just fine for me.

masteroftherealm

Well along with everyone except shimp I think these are an excellent twist on traditional portraits.
Haunting, almost ethereal presence in them.lovely work

mtracey

Like to see them just plain converted to b+w myself

Fajitas!

They would be nice portraits...but they're missing a nose!

And a bit of a bottom lip!

sdssarah

...I don't want to be rude, but my honest opinion is that they are both terrible. I really don't like the "effects" you've used on these photos, they make the boy or girl in the photo (honestly, I can't tell) look truely terrifying, it looks more like a horror film than a nice portrait to me.

sdssarah

I just had a look at the flickr page you have setup. There are some really nice photos there. I especially like "road to nowhere" "gnarly" and "smoking" is quite good too. But in my honest opinion I think you should stay away from front on portraits you make them look really horrific, the "d day" looks way too over the top photoshoped, and the photo "hello" which I assume is you (im not sure?) actually looks like a paedophile. Seriously, stop with all the blurry and taking out of detail from peoples faces...arent those the things that make them look human, and actually give them personality? Just one girl's opinion

(please don't be offended, im trying to be constructive somehow!)
sarah

mtracey

"the photo "hello" which I assume is you (im not sure?) actually looks like a paedophile."

jeez, bit strong in fairness ??

masteroftherealm

lol.
I do agreee that the insane use of softening gives an eerie extremely scary look.
But I thoght that was the intenetion?

CONMIKE12

No guys,it is good to get a lot of different view points on stuff i do.I'm still learning so it's good to see what other people think.Wouldn't it be a boring old world if we all took the same kind of shots and what one person likes,another might think is awful.Diversity and creative expression is the name of the game here ,no? I appreciate you all taking the time to view and comment on these two shots.i wanted to put up a more conventional shot of her but i couldn't get permission from her mammy,and mammies always know best .
@ sdssarah, It's cool,I'm not offended at all.I wasn't going for a horror film effect,but neither was i going for a "nice" portrait either.You can't expect everyone to like the shots you take although I'm a bit worried now that i look like a paedo to some people so I'll have to make sure to keep an eye out for blokes who look like me,and keep my nephew and niece well away from them !! .
Seriously though,thanks everyone for all the comments,it's important to get objective feedback.

AdeleS

and the photo "hello" which I assume is you (im not sure?) actually looks like a paedophile.

All I can say is, what an immature response. :mad:

Roen

@sdssarah, if you have a talent to spot these types perhaps you should offer your services to the Gardaí. Let's face it they could use all the help they can get.

Constructive criticism is one thing but that will help no one at all move along in their photography and will only serve to inflame imo. People are kind of sensitive about their work so something along the lines of "perhaps you should have used less of the 'xyz' filter" or "try to keep a little detail in the highlights" will help be more constuctive than using words like "really horrific".

My own opinion on the shots would be that an 18mm focal length rarely flatters the human face as it has inherent distorting effects. I'd try to use a longer focal length if one is available you Conmike. Unless there was a good reason to chop of the girls head in "The Look" I'd also try to get a full head shot in. I much prefer "Looks Like Rain", that tight crop on the face works well, the only thing is the strand of hair passing over her right eye is a little distracting. But then again if it was missing perhaps you'd have too much unbroken white in there.
I actually like that PP, but as Fajitas said you have lost some of the detail in the nose and bottom lip.
Cheers.

sdssarah

i didnt mean to sound horrible, its just that photo honestly scares me, and not in hes going to kill me kind of way! no offence! im sure youre a lovely guy, you seem pretty cool, and i like most of your other work

Zillah

"Diffuse glow" isn't it? That or something similar. Its a lovely filter that can give a very nice, soft effect, but unfortunately it is so easily spotted once you've used it yourself. Its best used very lightly, it can tend to blast away texture very easily.

Fajitas!

You could always try using Invert, Diffuse Glow, Invert for an interesting effect, but only if you're using mono or duotones. It makes the highlights and shadows bleed a lot more.

CONMIKE12

I more or less worked on these till i got them as close to what i wanted as i could.I don't really set out with anything in mind,I just try different things as I am learning as i go along.I'll have a go at your suggestion faj.I do take the point about losing the detail in the face.I didn't use diffuse glow,i duplicated the image and applied gaussian blur and blended as overlay and continued on from there.I'm open to all critcism,sure isn't that why we put our shots up here,to get other points of view on things.If we only wanted to hear good things then we'd all be sorely disappointed some of the time.And after all,it's all to do with different tastes and likes and dislikes.I might not agree with everything that has been said about these shots,but as each person comments,i go back and look at them and see what i might do differently.The paedophile comment was a bit hurtful but i did crack up laughing when i first read it.I don't think she meant it to come across in a harsh way so no worries.Thanks again all for your input.:)

Fajitas!

CONMIKE12 wrote:

I more or less worked on these till i got them as close to what i wanted as i could.I don't really set out with anything in mind,I just try different things as I am learning as i go along.I'll have a go at your suggestion faj.I do take the point about losing the detail in the face.I didn't use diffuse glow,i duplicated the image and applied gaussian blur and blended as overlay and continued on from there.I'm open to all critcism,sure isn't that why we put our shots up here,to get other points of view on things.If we only wanted to hear good things then we'd all be sorely disappointed some of the time.And after all,it's all to do with different tastes and likes and dislikes.I might not agree with everything that has been said about these shots,but as each person comments,i go back and look at them and see what i might do differently.The paedophile comment was a bit hurtful but i did crack up laughing when i first read it.I don't think she meant it to come across in a harsh way so no worries.Thanks again all for your input.:)

You take crit well!

As regards what I said about diffuse glow...use if verrrrrry sparingly!

As you said, the paedo comment would have been a bit hurtful, but was meant in jest... text can take the humour out of a lot of things!

Morlar

I like those portraits - I prefer the first one, it kind of reminds me of victorian photography (not sure if thats the kind of look you were going for). It is a certain effect and obviously not to everyones taste & I would say if all your pictures looked that way it would get a bit tiresome - but as a one off experiment there's nothing wrong with them at all.

I wouldnt be put off from experimenting with photoshop - the only way to learn is to try things and see how they work - which photographs certain manipulations suit and how far to go with them too.

*edit removed the mud-slinging bits !

GASUN

In terms of framing and manipulation, youve made both of them look as you wanted - to my mind a nice gothic look which I like a lot! I like them both, the second as a development of the first. It would be interesting to see the original of one of them to see the transformation, while on the second, I would look and see if the lips could be 'improved' to enhance the style you have choosen. The young lady is a really good portrait subject.
Enda Casey
Music Photographer
www.gasun.net
www.myspace.com/gasun

CONMIKE12

Thanks Enda.yeah,i definitely have a certain look i want to achieve,but my Ps skills severely limit me in achieving it.I'm just starting out really so hopefully i will improve with practice. Thanks for your comments.