Self Portrait

[petemc]

http://www.petemc.net/images/selfportrait-CRW_3931-%20172-2.jpg

The photoshopping around my left eye is a bit off. It was a quick attempt to remove what looked like a black eye. It worked fine on the right though. Self portraits are hard to do, at least for me. I think it looks ok but I dunno, portraits don't seem to work out as I'd planned. So much to learn.

[CT]

Self portraits are doubly difficult because you can't see what's going on till you get the result. :D

Cloning skin is quite difficult because of the need to match tone and texture. I tend to use the clone tool with the opacity reduced and gradually build up to the right density and texture. Selectively adding a little noise with a freehand mask to the cloned areas can also help conceal any work you've done.

Technically there's not a great deal wrong with your pic. The highlights are a little blown on the forehead and nose - try reducing the flash power a little, and you have a shadow under the nose which would have been more noticeable without the 'tache. ;) Nose shadows are the bane of portrait work.

[CT]

Pete I shouldn't do this because you haven't ticked your edit box, but it's driving me nuts looking at your pic. :gag:

I know you like the contrasty look and it works well in a lot of your shots, but it's not always apt and in this portrait is causing you the blown highlight problems.

This is a straight greyscale conversion ( from the pic in the other thread) with gamma and contrast adjustment and a little work under the eyes. I've managed to retain the detail in the pupils which you'd lost in your version.

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/530/lightsphere2_ced.jpg

I think it's a cracker, but say the word and I'll nuke it.

[petemc]

Its so weird looking at a pic of yourself and suddenly realising you're doing the exact same pose :D I think you're right though. That version does look better.

[CT]

Its so weird looking at a pic of yourself and suddenly realising you're doing the exact same pose :D.

Even better then - it's a representative shot. :thumbs: It's not easy looking into the lens like that, I find it quite difficult.

[Gemok]

the detail in the eyes really makes CT's version stand out

[Hoodi]

I prefer everything about pete's version except the eye detail preserved in CT's - but even then I'd like to see some middle ground!

Pose wise I'm afraid it leaves me feeling a bit blank - but I'm not sure why.

I'm supah helpful me!

[petemc]

Hehe its why I take the pics not star in them :D I'm no model.

[Hoodi]

Of course, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of cheese!


http://img421.imageshack.us/img421/1203/mwblackwhitefd7.jpg

[lee]

Pete I shouldn't do this because you haven't ticked your edit box, but it's driving me nuts looking at your pic. :gag:

I know you like the contrasty look and it works well in a lot of your shots, but it's not always apt and in this portrait is causing you the blown highlight problems.

This is a straight greyscale conversion ( from the pic in the other thread) with gamma and contrast adjustment and a little work under the eyes. I've managed to retain the detail in the pupils which you'd lost in your version.

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/530/lightsphere2_ced.jpg

I think it's a cracker, but say the word and I'll nuke it.

Hi CT,

Hope you don't mind me asking but how did you resolve the blown highlights on the forehead & nose? I have a few shots where my flash is to strong and not sure how best to repair them.

Did you use the technique you described in the earlier post where you set the opacity lower and built it up gradually to get the right skin tone?

Thanks

Lee

[CT]

Of course I don't mind Lee. :)

Once the highlights are really well and truly blown (no recoverable detail) then no matter what you do you're not going to get them back, which is when cloning is really your last resort. As I said earlier, skin tones, particularly on the face are extremely difficult to do well, on all but very small areas. On very large areas it's difficult to avoid the cloning looking rather obvious and it's probably best left alone.

I didn't do any cloning on this pic, although it's not a top job and probably would still benefit from a little low opacity cloning on the forehead to just smooth out that area.

All I did with this pic was draw a tight mask around the blown areas, feather it by a few pixels, then pull the highlights down in the histogram graph. Blown highlights tend to have a hot spot towards the centre, so you end up drawing a smaller mask and repeating the process till you've recovered as much detail as you can... hope that makes sense.

[lee]

Of course I don't mind Lee. :)

Once the highlights are really well and truly blown (no recoverable detail) then no matter what you do you're not going to get them back, which is when cloning is really your last resort. As I said earlier, skin tones, particularly on the face are extremely difficult to do well, on all but very small areas. On very large areas it's difficult to avoid the cloning looking rather obvious and it's probably best left alone.

I didn't do any cloning on this pic, although it's not a top job and probably would still benefit from a little low opacity cloning on the forehead to just smooth out that area.

All I did with this pic was draw a tight mask around the blown areas, feather it by a few pixels, then pull the highlights down in the histogram graph. Blown highlights tend to have a hot spot towards the centre, so you end up drawing a smaller mask and repeating the process till you've recovered as much detail as you can... hope that makes sense.

Thanks CT very helpful :thumbs: :thankyou:

[morgan]

http://www.petemc.net/images/selfportrait-CRW_3931-%20172-2.jpg



its david brent :)

[Sean_Mcr]

I think the pose is a little cheesy for me Pete, self portraits are notoriously hard to carry off, and it's best avoiding doing an out and out pose. The hand on chin is to be honest a bit David Brent like, i don't mean you're a look alike, mean in its feel

[Joe T]

A pic of Cyk without a hat? Woah!

Good shot mate. CT has improved it too. :)