I'm Sure There's a Decent Photo Here Somewhere

Kintarō Hattori

I think with some work the original photo of this lady can be turned into a halfway decent portrait photo but I'm not happy with my results so far. When working on a photo I can usually see if something can be gained from it (yay) or not and it's discarded. I'm not 100& satisfied with either of these but I don't want to call it quits just yet either.


What do you guys think. Is there potential here for a decent portrait or am I just wasting my time working on it?

Image One



http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/4030019991

Image Two



http://www.flickr.com/photos/liamandagnieszka/4030019247


The original source file is attached.

smash

I actually like the 2nd pic there

Kintarō Hattori

steve06 wrote: »

I actually like the 2nd pic there

Many thanks steve. It doesn't look too bad in the thumbnail but have you looked at the larger size?

xia

I like the first version. The softness reflects the relaxed situation very well. And it's somehow more interesting than the original.
I just think you lost too much detail in the curtain what makes that the corner looks overexposed. Maybe you can get back some detail or have it less exposed?
#2 is for me too harsh and hence contradicts with the situation captured.

Kintarō Hattori

Thanks xia, I'll work on the first one again and see if I can recover some of the curtain detail. I know the 2nd one is too harsh but I wasn't too gone on the softness of the first image!

xia

So maybe the middle of the softness in 1 and the harshness in 2 is right for you...if that's possible to achive. I've never done that myself...

Ghost Train

I'd say bring the levels up to the point where you can see detail in the dark part of the hair, ie. a brighter photo but hair still looks good (more exposed shot). And maybe b&w would suit the shot better, would agree that the softer version looks better

superflyninja

I agree, I would go for a BW version of the soft portrait. How did you achieve the soft look?

smelltheglove

I have to say I wouldnt want to call quits either, I think there is a bit too much contrast, as said before bring out more detail, black and white maybe but I'd also like to see a bit more colour and possibly compare.

Eirebear

I like number 1, the softness around her face works great.

However why is everyone hung up on seeing the curtain behind her head? Is it an intrinsic part of the image?
The blown out highlights in my opinion add something to the image that a net curtain wont, a little bit of mystery.
They also serve to frame the portrait in a manner that drab net curtains wont.

They do bleed into her hair and head a little too much possibly, but without them i think the softness would lose its effect.

Kintarō Hattori

superflyninja wrote: »

I agree, I would go for a BW version of the soft portrait. How did you achieve the soft look?

I'll try that when I'm home later tonight. There are 3 layers in the photo:

Layer 3 - B&W set to Overlay and with a Guassian blur of 60.
Layer 2 - Colour and with an opacity of between 60-70%
Layer 1 - Is a a plain B&W layer desaturated, gradient map applied and levels adjusted slightly

These are off the top if my head- I'll confirm when I get home. I'll try a soft version in B&W when I'm home

smelltheglove wrote: »

I have to say I wouldnt want to call quits either, I think there is a bit too much contrast, as said before bring out more detail, black and white maybe but I'd also like to see a bit more colour and possibly compare.

Ok I'll give it a whirl later on.


Many thanks for the feedback folks, it's appreciated.