A Rare Portrait - Wnat Do You Think?

[John Seaman]

I don't do many portraits, but I was quite pleased with this one, although the judge seemed to be pretty much underwhelmed by it. The first picture is as submitted, with some post processing. The second is the original off the camera:

[JDMvW]

Either way, there's a sort of "Vermeer'' quality to the image. Nice.

[victor2]

Nice image and lighting. the crop not relevant. The only thing that caught my attention was the hair line on cropped image, it seems unnatural more like a smudge. I feel that just a slight diminish of mole as you have done but leave hairline as is. Just my observation.

[mikemorrellNL]

I know very little about portraits. IMHO both are good.

I do note that your original is larger, has more 'context' and is relatively 'unedited'.

In contrast, your edited version is more tightly cropped to the face.  Your edits also include some (limited) 'blemish removals' (notably the wart) which the judge might have noticed.

I have no idea what the competition was or what the criteria were. Perhaps your 'score' might have been better on the original,  That said, I think I prefer your edited version🙂.

 

[samstevens]

I prefer the saturation levels on the original. Your workup may overdo the orange some, particularly on her neck. I do find your workup cropped a little tight. I think you may have preferred it without her hand and I understand that, but there may be no great solution since the tight crop feels a bit awkward and forced. Note how her neck in the cropped version feels so straight and unarticulated, a bit harsh, yet in the uncropped version there are tender curves and more softness. I'm also a little put off by the square and distinct catchlights. They're quite bold for such a soft portrait. If you're pleased with the portrait and, particularly if the subject is pleased with it, the judge's opinion matters less ... though if the judge offered some thoughts on their reaction, they might be of some value. Like the judge, I'm underwhelmed, even though there's a lot to like here. One takeaway would be to work on gesture and pose so that cropping tight to eliminate what's there won't be necessary.

Edited February 12, 2023 by samstevens

[John Seaman]

15 hours ago, victor2 said:

The only thing that caught my attention was the hair line on cropped image, it seems unnatural more like a smudge.

Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions, much appreciated. The reason for the smudgy hair was that I thought that her hand was over bright and distracting so I cloned it out but it was difficult to clone the hair back in successfully.

12 hours ago, samstevens said:

think you may have preferred it without her hand and I understand that, but there may be no great solution since the tight crop feels a bit awkward and forced

 

12 hours ago, samstevens said:

I'm also a little put off by the square and distinct catchlights.

In another (even more closely cropped) version I did make the catchlights circular. The edited version does appear over saturated now you mention it.

12 hours ago, samstevens said:

One takeaway would be to work on gesture and pose so that cropping tight to eliminate what's there won't be necessary.

As stated, I'm not a portraitist and don't find posing the subject at all easy. It was my fault that her hand was in that position.

It was just an open competition for any subject. I  can't  remember everything the judge said, but her comments were pretty much in line with what's been said here.

Thanks again for responding.