January 2014 Portraits

[StoneNYC]

Pretty sure the halo is from over burning in Lightroom and using the tool with too wide a feather...

[Ari]

Pretty sure the halo is from over burning in Lightroom and using the tool with too wide a feather...

Stone has the correct answer; in my own defense, it was done on purpose, like every other photo I post here.
I made the transition away from the wet darkroom, and LR looks to me like the closest in terms of a real burn/dodge look.

[Corran]

If you want higher values on your wife's lighter skin-tone, why not just develop longer (and burn down the edges)? Every one of these images seem heavy-handed and the weird edges totally detract from the image, in my humble opinion. Just want to spark a discourse on the purpose, so please don't take offense. I don't know what you mean by looking closest to a "real burn/dodge look" because digital or darkroom, overdone is just overdone.

[Ari]

Bryan,
No offence taken, naturally.
I do find the effect in this particular photo a little more pronounced than other photos I have here, but the process and approach are always the same.
I used to dodge/burn in CS6, but always found it looked like a digital simulation; the LR5 adjustments remind me much more of what a wet print would look like with the same dodging/burning.

This neg was a little thin, I did not factor in bellows extension; I already feel like I over-develop, as the highlights can be hard to tame on many of my negs, so longer development time is out of the question.
I try to over-expose by using a lower ISO sometimes, but for portraits, it makes the job more difficult, because I end up shooting wide open at 1s or longer.

Give me a few minutes, and I'll post another version of the same photo.

[Ari]

In the interest of discussion, I'm posting a before/after.

The photo on the left is a straight scan, the way the negative looks before any manipulation.
The centre photo is my second (current) effort, and the photo on the right is the previous effort, with the "halo" effect.

To make things look a little tidier, I was much more careful in applying the borders of the areas to be dodged; there was very little overlap, resulting in much less "halo" effect.
Different areas were burned or dodged: eyes, face, head, right arm, throat, wall, and the small area behind her left side.
The face was given extra exposure, then highlights were brought way down to avoid a loss of detail.

I think I can live with this version much more easily than the previous attempt, and it was worth the extra effort.
So thanks for keeping me on my toes.

[Raffay]

I prefer the straight scan.

[Corran]

Cool. I like these discussions.

You already said the negative was thin so no comment is necessary regarding exposure. I definitely prefer the right one to the last posting.

[Ari]

Sorry guys, I switched the photos around.

Left - straight scan
Middle - new version
Right - previous version

Bryan, thanks for pointing out these things; it lead to a better version of a photo.
I like these discussions, too; I even thought of starting a new thread for "before/after" photos with as many details as the photographer is willing to provide.

[Corran]

Well I know many times I edit a photo, upload it, and then upon looking at it the next day I see the color was off or there was something just not right with it, so it's always good to get some feedback and criticism or just look at the image with fresh eyes.

I wouldn't mind seeing you take another shot and do 3 takes - one normal (with bellows ext. calculated of course), one normal and then developed less, and then one with an extra stop of exposure and developed less. Looking at your flat scan it does seem overdeveloped but who can tell from a scan? Alternatively it seems like what you want is just a bit of light from a fill card on the left side of her face (camera right).

[Ramiro Elena]

This is very interesting Ari! Here are my first impressions and a probably different approach to what you did and a guess at what you intend to achieve:

- I see you probably wanted the background to be a little darker. You could move the model away from the wall or place something (a panel) to block part of the light coming from the window.
- The other significant change is the recovery you applied to the right side of her face. Instead of doing so, I would place a white panel to bounce some of the light and have some fill light. Not too much though, I really like the light/shadow to the right.

This involves quite a bit more hassle but I think it is worth it and a new challenge
You might be getting too much contrast from the scan too. The image doesn't seem to come from a thin negative.


edit: I just read what Bryan posted so there.