Whip away

[LiquidOps]

I know there is room for improvement in this picture. There usually always is. I want to be the best I can, so i put myself on the stand, waiting my "Whipping"

brutal is ok. by the way... she's my wife, so reshoots are always possible. :)

Here is the original:
http://WanderingThroughLife.smugmug.com/photos/32362506-L.jpg

After some PS Work:
http://WanderingThroughLife.smugmug.com/photos/32362509-L.jpg

and a BW:
http://WanderingThroughLife.smugmug.com/photos/32362513-L.jpg

ok... WHIP AWAY!!!

::Clenches teeth:: i'm ready

Steven

[digital faerie]

Oh yay, I get to be the first whipper. muhahaha :whip

Your DOF is spot on IMO. I also think you did a pretty good job of warming the pic in PS, your original was a bit flat for sure.

The 2 biggest things that bother me are her facial expression and her gaze. What is she looking at? To me she looks a bit bored, and while that's ok, I don't think it's working for this shot. It's just not pleasing. And I can't help but think she has a wonderful smile, I mean, this is the woman you married! Make us fall in love with her, too.

The B&W version seems a bit too harsh, it could be toned down a bit and overall, I believe that could be the better option. The bright banana yellow in contrast to her pale blue shirt isn't as pleasing to me, but B&W takes care of that.

Another reason her facial expression bothers me is because that's all there is. A great shot of a stronger emotion here would really lend itself well to the overall composition of the shot because that's where the eye lands.

I'd be curious to see a reshoot of her by that tree in the background. Is there potential there?

This is a good first attempt IMO, and now you have my dissertation (a.k.a. 2 cents worth). I hope you're not bleeding LOL. :wink

[XO-Studios]

Oh yay, I get to be the first whipper. muhahaha :whip

Your DOF is spot on IMO. I also think you did a pretty good job of warming the pic in PS, your original was a bit flat for sure.

The 2 biggest things that bother me are her facial expression and her gaze. What is she looking at? To me she looks a bit bored, and while that's ok, I don't think it's working for this shot. It's just not pleasing. And I can't help but think she has a wonderful smile, I mean, this is the woman you married! Make us fall in love with her, too.

The B&W version seems a bit too harsh, it could be toned down a bit and overall, I believe that could be the better option. The bright banana yellow in contrast to her pale blue shirt isn't as pleasing to me, but B&W takes care of that.

Another reason her facial expression bothers me is because that's all there is. A great shot of a stronger emotion here would really lend itself well to the overall composition of the shot because that's where the eye lands.

I'd be curious to see a reshoot of her by that tree in the background. Is there potential there?

This is a good first attempt IMO, and now you have my dissertation (a.k.a. 2 cents worth). I hope you're not bleeding LOL. :wink
:agree

Another thing I would look for in a reshoot:

a) the way her shirt blouses on on her leftside neckline.
b) the yellow backdrop behind the space body/upper arm/elbow/lower arm
c) the way her right arm(viewer left) is cropped

XO,

[Dixie]

Steven,

I really like the way you used the natural light to add highlights to your wife's hair. It really makes her stand out from the BG.

I offer the following suggestions:

Shoot or frame tight unless the background is going to add to the composition and carry the viewer's attention to your wife's eyes (there was a lot of open space to the right and above your wife's head). My framing suggestion is shown is below.
Check for things which are out of place (your wife will thank you for that) such as the blouse as XO mentioned. There were also some creases in her neck because of the way she was holding her head (I cloned them out in the example below).
The Rule of Thirds also comes into play. Her eyes should be near one of the intersections.
Your focus and DOF appear to be dead on. However, when shooting ladies you will find that they like to consider themselves "soft." You can use filters to sofen the focus, but that also softens the focus around the eyes. IMHO, sharp eyes are a neccesity in a good portrait. Therefore, I recommend that you shoot for sharpness and then add a gaussian blur layer at 50% opacity and then use the eraser to remove the blur from the top layer over the eyes. When working with your full-size RAW or JPEG image, you should set the gaussian blur to somewhere between 14-20 pixels.
There were also "hot spots" in the background which I found to be distracting. The hot spots were further emphasized by the out-of-focus background so I cloned them out and darkened the BG to help emphasize your lovely model.
Please be sure and post the results of any re-shoots. I would love to see them. You're a lucky man to have a live-in model. Both my wife and pets tend to run or hide their heads when I point a camera at them. ...and keep in mind that my suggestions are only one man's viewpoint. There are many correct ways to "get the job done."

Good shooting.