It's just a picture of a face, not the portrait of a man.
It's just a picture of a face, not the portrait of a man.
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
I did a number of things, but I was just improvising - so I don't have any record of it.
I cropped, and straightened the image with respect to vertical. I removed the light area next to the model's left ear. I adjusted the contrast and brightness, and changed the color scheme in 2 different parts of the tonal range, sort of a split toning effect. I added a duplicate layer, applied some Gaussian Blur to it, and selected Lighten as the layer style. I used the sharpening brush to sharpen some of the areas on the face and neck. I also adjusted the saturation, and did some burning-in here and there. I can't remember the rest.
Since I haven't met the subject, and I wasn't there when the photo was taken, I have no preconception about how the image should feel. Given the starting point of the posted image file, I have tried to suggest, without words, some of the countless aesthetic variations that are possible, while keeping within the realm of standard photographic adjustments.
---Scott
www.srosenberg.com
correct me if i'm wrong, but this does not appear to be intended as a standard sort of portrait. instead of trying to soften him up, go with the lost, forlorn expression on his face. allow his apparent mental state be the context for the textures, crop, etc. work with the dark circles. if you've got a frame where the subject is surrounded by loads of negative space, take second look at it. try various crops again, but keeping him smaller within the frame. works with the sadness. (just one request, though. pretty please don't center him in the frame.)
The eyes are void of information and it looks plastic and stiff.
Ken, I think you made it more generic and less interesting!
More photoshop fun....
How about adding a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, (James Dean style)?
Wilhelm (Sarasota)
Thank you all for your responses!
I think Domenico Foschi got it right : the sitter was not comfortable in front of my camera, and I did not know how to allay his fears, so I just hurried through the shoot. Discussions on this forum often revolve about technical issues of photography, perhaps we should have a discussion on how to interact with people who we are photographing, especially if they are not comfortable.
As a side point, I think it is very interesting that out of the responders to the survey, nine people said that they would be unhappy if they took such photo, but eight people said that they would be happy if someone took such photo of them.
Thank you again for all of your responses.
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