Eye See Me

[reval8r]

Just something different for a portrait.

http://www.astonishingportraits.com/picts/eyeworks.jpg

[jerryph]

Very awesome! I would just dial down the skin smoothing a notch or 2, it looks a little plasticy.

[reval8r]

Thanks for the comment Jerry. I was trying to keep the eye very sharp and the rest of the image really soft. I used a vignette to achieve the softness around the eye which further smoothed the skin. I'm thinking about doing what you suggested, but I'm leaning a little toward keeping the plastic look for this image. I just done this edit about an hour ago and she absolutely loves it. So I'll probably end up with two editions.

[coffee]

Quite a great affect. I love it. I myself would only do one thing different to it and it's a very minor one, but one that caught my eye. hehe. I would center the model in the pubil more. It's close now, but just left of center. Maybe you did it that way to clear the reflection, but I think centered with a little reflection overlap would look cool. Great Great shot. Congrats.

[reval8r]

Thanks Joseph, you're right it is a little off center. I was too worried about keeping her out of the catch light to notice.

[ladyups]

Stunning, Larry! Absolutely stunning. I can never get this sharp of an image. Try as hard as I can but its never this sharp. I can see why she liked this image. I can see it framed and matted.

[reval8r]

Thanks for the super nice comment Mary. I really like your blog!

[ladyups]

Thanks for the compliment but I'm not real happy with the blog. Since I know nothing about HTML, I can't design one of my own so we just picked one of the pre-made one. We plan on working on it this winter to see if we can come up with something better. We've both been so busy the last few weeks that its kind of got neglected. I would love to have one like yours but need to get better at photography first.

[LensBaby]

What an amazing photo Larry. I love it. I think with that big of a catch light, she is centered in the pupil fine. The softness of the face makes her image in the pupil "pop" out better. I think if the eye area didn't have the softness, then her eye photo would not stand out like you intended. I really love it.

[reval8r]

Thanks for the compliment but I'm not real happy with the blog. Since I know nothing about HTML, I can't design one of my own so we just picked one of the pre-made one. We plan on working on it this winter to see if we can come up with something better. We've both been so busy the last few weeks that its kind of got neglected. I would love to have one like yours but need to get better at photography first.

Mary you blog looks pretty good to me, but most importantly it has content. Most blogs have nothing or pretty much worthless content, it's refreshing to see a blog that has something useful. It's really not as hard as you think to learn HTML and CSS style sheets. I pretty find templates I like and then alter them to suit my needs. I'm as guilty as anyone about neglecting my web site so I know where you're coming from.

I also like the images I've seen of yours. There's nothing wrong with striving to get better at photography, but you've got some good stuff to use on your blog. Just don't postpone doing things because you feel it isn't good enough. I think what makes us grow as artist and people is pursuing to get better. Enjoy and be happy with what you have now as you while you strive to get better.

Best wishes,
Larry

[reval8r]

What an amazing photo Larry. I love it. I think with that big of a catch light, she is centered in the pupil fine. The softness of the face makes her image in the pupil "pop" out better. I think if the eye area didn't have the softness, then her eye photo would not stand out like you intended. I really love it.

Thanks for the wonderful comment Debbie. I added a soft vignette around the eye to give the image softness and to make the eye appear even sharper. I didn't do much sharpening to the eye because I wanted it stay crisp and clean. I think it's too easy easy to oversharpen an image. The 48 inch octabox also played a big part in providing a nice soft light source for the image, which is the reason for the big catch light.

[LensBaby]

The only cc that I can give you is that I can see her contact. I notice little stupid things that most people wouldnt even notice in the first place. I love it.

[reval8r]

The only cc that I can give you is that I can see her contact. I notice little stupid things that most people wouldnt even notice in the first place. I love it.

Hi Debbie,
I didn't realize how many people wear contacts until I started doing portrait photograhy. Seems like almost everyone wears them these days. Most of the time, I don't even notice until going to post and there they are crystal clear. I've tried a couple of times to remove them, but the image doesn't look as good. My PS skills aren't really that great and I can't seem to get around to enhancing them. I decided that if the client doesn't like them, I send them out to retouchup.com to have them removed. Otherwise, they're there for us all to see. :D

[chrissyp]

Fabulous picture, I love it.

[ladyups]

Thanks, Larry and I have to admit, I'm prone to put my camera on the shelf too often if I've been out and came home with images that I wasn't happy with. My main problem is not being able to see that LCD image well enough. I get pumped that they are coming out great and then get home and look at them on the computer and find out they aren't what I thought they were. I'm going to get a cheap portable DVD player so I can hook my camera up when I'm out there and see the image bigger & better.
Thanks for the kudos....I'm my worst critic. Some times, I reqret moving up to DSLR cause my point and shoot was so much easier to get good images out of...not that it was a better camera but I didn't have to use my brain to operate it. I force myself to use manual on the DSLR until I get frustrated and flip it back to auto. I'll get it, eventually.
Nita and I plan on working on learning that Html and style sheets this winter when my daily schedule is a bit slower.
BTW....I hope you don't mind, but I took your eye into PS and played with the healing brush. It seemed to get the contacts off pretty good. Not good enough for a pro to miss but not bad either.

Thanks again!

[reval8r]

Fabulous picture, I love it.

Thank you Chissy, it's much appreciated.

[reval8r]

Thanks, Larry and I have to admit, I'm prone to put my camera on the shelf too often if I've been out and came home with images that I wasn't happy with. My main problem is not being able to see that LCD image well enough. I get pumped that they are coming out great and then get home and look at them on the computer and find out they aren't what I thought they were. I'm going to get a cheap portable DVD player so I can hook my camera up when I'm out there and see the image bigger & better.
Thanks for the kudos....I'm my worst critic. Some times, I reqret moving up to DSLR cause my point and shoot was so much easier to get good images out of...not that it was a better camera but I didn't have to use my brain to operate it. I force myself to use manual on the DSLR until I get frustrated and flip it back to auto. I'll get it, eventually.
Nita and I plan on working on learning that Html and style sheets this winter when my daily schedule is a bit slower.
BTW....I hope you don't mind, but I took your eye into PS and played with the healing brush. It seemed to get the contacts off pretty good. Not good enough for a pro to miss but not bad either.

Thanks again!

I don't care much for LCD monitors on the camera either. I can't judge anything with them. They look good on the little LCD, and then you see them on the computer and wonder what happened. I've also almost deleted images after looking at them on the LCD only to find it was a good image when I seen it on my computer. I orginally began shooting 35mm reversal film, and I still shoot much like I did with film. You had to develop good habits with film or it would cost you a fortune. With digital, it seems like people shoot a 1000 images and hope for the best.

I not one that minds if someone plays with an image or tries to recreate it. I find it a compliment. Looking at other images and trying to figure out how it was made teaches me more than anything else. I also tell others to try and recreate something they seen and like to help them grow and learn.

Just don't get discouraged about your photograhy. Ask any of us here how many crappy pictures they've taken and I'm sure they have had more than their share. Just have fun, experiment and take notes a lot to see what works and don't work. Share your work with photographers you like for CC, it's a great help. I think we learn so much more when we have to put in more effort to get something we like. Keep going girl!

[SweetBride202]

Cool! I've been trying to do photos like this. I just couldn't get it right!

[dkippen]

Larry - this looks fabulous. How do you get your model to sit so still without blinking? I'm constantly blinking.

Sue - love your avatar. That's the look I've been sporting lately.

Mary - Good to see you back.

[reval8r]

Larry - this looks fabulous. How do you get your model to sit so still without blinking? I'm constantly blinking.

Hi Debbie,
Thanks. Have a relaxed subject and shoot quickly. If they have to stare too long they will blink. I was pretty lucky with this young lady, we shot several sets of different things and not one blink in 105 shots. My wife blinks probably 48 out of 50 shots. It's like there is something connected to my shutter button finger and her eyelids. ;)