Me

[Plugus Maximus]

So I thought I'd try out low key photography (i think that's what its called) and I was short of models. And I needed a new avatar so here I am.

Ignore the ugly mug (if ya can) .... is the photo any good?

I might need to try and smooth out my skin with PS or is it bad due to the angle of light?

 

[mmcp42]

you might wanna try to get the catchlight sharper
otherwise - looks good!

 

[Plugus Maximus]

Catchlight?

*looks up on wikipedia*

Ah right! Any tips on how I would achieve that? I haven't any idea how to even begin with that :shrug:

It was shot using a small cheap Ikea type desk lamp as the light source.

 

[trebs]

A nice try for sure, my observations are as follows.

Don't worry about photoshopping your skin, by the very nature of this hard side light you're going to cast shadows on any imperfections there are. It's you, don't edit that away.
I would rotate the shot a little so that the shadowline is vertical, it will make the image stronger.
Maybe even a tighter crop, taking off some of your head, the black space above you is a bit empty.
As for the catchlight (the highlight in your eye) try varying the position of your head in relation to the light source. Or even hold a piece of paper up to bounce a bit of light into your eye.
Just keep experimenting, analyze each set of shots you do and study what happens when the light position changes. It's a great way to learn and can deliver some very dramatic images.
Above all, have fun doing it.

 

[mmcp42]

Catchlight?

*looks up on wikipedia*

Ah right! Any tips on how I would achieve that? I haven't any idea how to even begin with that :shrug:

It was shot using a small cheap Ikea type desk lamp as the light source.

a) focus on the eye so it's sharp
b) lil bit of post processing (filter:unsharp mask):

 

[Plugus Maximus]

A nice try for sure, my observations are as follows.

Don't worry about photoshopping your skin, by the very nature of this hard side light you're going to cast shadows on any imperfections there are. It's you, don't edit that away.
I would rotate the shot a little so that the shadowline is vertical, it will make the image stronger.
Maybe even a tighter crop, taking off some of your head, the black space above you is a bit empty.
As for the catchlight (the highlight in your eye) try varying the position of your head in relation to the light source. Or even hold a piece of paper up to bounce a bit of light into your eye.
Just keep experimenting, analyze each set of shots you do and study what happens when the light position changes. It's a great way to learn and can deliver some very dramatic images.
Above all, have fun doing it.

Thanks for taking the time to write all this I shall certainly try out your advice. However, I did try rotating the image and I wasn't happy with the results, mind you I do find it to be hard to be objective and 'removed' from the image as it's me.

a) focus on the eye so it's sharp
b) lil bit of post processing (filter:unsharp mask):

I like the result very much. I'm new to PS and still have a lot to learn. I 'cheated' and used Picasa to do some basic manipulation but obviously this limited me somewhat.

Many thanks.