Critique Izzy

Messages
74
Name
John
Edit My Images
Yes
Izzy50pc.jpg

Shot of my 12yo daughter, taken on my Nikon D850 (Medium Raw), Tamron 70-200 f2.8 (1st generation)
f4, 135mm

I'm open to your expert critique and suggestions.
 
Would I be right in guessing that you’ve followed a tutorial to emphasise the eyes?

Can we see it without?

I think there’s a great capture spoiled here.
 
Would I be right in guessing that you’ve followed a tutorial to emphasise the eyes?

Can we see it without?

I think there’s a great capture spoiled here.

Ah Phil, I’m mainly a lurker and have noticed on various occasions you don’t miss a trick.
Hands up, yes, this isn’t edit free. I’d be interested to know how you think I’ve spoilt it though.

I normally edit in Lightroom but have been following a course on Kelby One on now to touch up portraits.
This was my first attempt.

I’m away from my PC tonight but I’ll post up the original when I’m next home.
 
Eyes are not over-cooked IMO. Believe me, that's subtle compared to some stuff you see around. You have some nice window light giving a nice sparkle to the eyes, I like the cheeky grin and the crop is just right. Works well enough for me.
 
Most 'instructions' for improving eyes don't point out the obvious -
please don't overdo it, you stand the risk of turning striking into demonic.

Back to basics - photography is about light - and if the light produces lovely soft shadows that make skin look smooth it won't produce massive amounts of micro contrast to make the eyes 'pop'. It's common sense - it just looks 'wrong' :)

But I'll reiterate - it's a lovely capture, just pare back the processing.
 
Eyes are not over-cooked IMO. Believe me, that's subtle compared to some stuff you see around. You have some nice window light giving a nice sparkle to the eyes, I like the cheeky grin and the crop is just right. Works well enough for me.
I'm not saying I haven't seen worse -just that IMHO they're overdone. Light doesn't work like that. :)
 
I'm not saying I haven't seen worse -just that IMHO they're overdone. Light doesn't work like that. :)

I smidge on her left eye maybe Phil, but it’s the whites that probably emphasise it. It’s still not that bad IMHO.
 
Thanks both. I appreciate the comments. Tbh, I'd never considered how light effects the eyes. After the basic adjustments, I sort out the blemishes first then eyes second. I thought I'd not gone too OTT but as you've noticed it, I clearly have. Something to bear in mind for next time :)
 
Have to agree with Phil (again), the eyes to me are a bit over done.
The white highlight in Izzy's left eye does not blend in with the surrounding white area.
Her right eye is better but the iris is a little bright in contrast to the surrounding area in general.
But a nice take and crop.
 
It is lovely.

I think you can get away with highly processed eyes when the rest of the image is kinda stylized too.
For me the teeth are a bit bright as well as the eyes, and the texture on the forehead looks a little weird.

fwiw I still make these mistakes myself. It's difficult when you're close to an image.
 
It is lovely.

I think you can get away with highly processed eyes when the rest of the image is kinda stylized too.
For me the teeth are a bit bright as well as the eyes, and the texture on the forehead looks a little weird.

fwiw I still make these mistakes myself. It's difficult when you're close to an image.

The funny thing is, I didn’t do anything to her teeth. Obviously I processed the eyes. Other than that, just healed some small blemishes and added some general sharpening on the Red channel.

Won’t see her for another week or so now, will try again when she’s back and will post up here
 
The funny thing is, I didn’t do anything to her teeth. Obviously I processed the eyes. Other than that, just healed some small blemishes and added some general sharpening on the Red channel.

Won’t see her for another week or so now, will try again when she’s back and will post up here
There's nothing wrong with the photo - just back off the processing and it's a winner.
 
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