Semi-candid portrait

[Drizzt321]

So, here's a sorta candid portrait of my cousin at my other cousin's Bar Mitzvah recently. Curious to see what you think of my processing. Both were done completely in Lightroom 4.1, although in the 2nd I'd have like to have gotten a bit better B&W conversion. I basically just did a brush with -100 saturation, and a few other lighting tweaks. Please be as harsh as you feel like, but constructive comments will be most appreciated

[lola]

The B&W version is a bit weird tbh... I understand that you're exploring the software and practicing some techniques but this shouldn't even be attempted imo.

[Menace]

Personally I like the first image. I'd whiten teeth a little bit, remove couple of spots and use soften skin brush - all theses are standard brush adjustments in Lightroom. Have fun

[Dylan777]

The B&W version is a bit weird tbh... I understand that you're exploring the software and practicing some techniques but this shouldn't even be attempted imo.

+1....this is just me 

[@!ex]

Ya, selective color hardly ever looks good IMO.  It should be used with extreme prejudice.  Other than that I agree with the teeth whitening idea (easy to desaturate the teeth) but the skin tones look nice.

[Drizzt321]

Heh, never thought of simply using a desaturating brush for teeth.

Yea, I was just experimenting, seeing what I could get. When I come back and look at it again, the selective color isn't so great. Looked good at the time though 

[robbymack]

well the second one is "different" to say the least.  First one not bad, you did a good job getting the eyes to pop, but like others have said the yellow teeth take away from the otherwise pretty eyes, that being said it's an easy fix.  I'm a big fan of the skin smoothing brush, just be careful not to go overboard and turn someone in a plastic barbie.  That being said if you have a mother in law like mine that technique has worked wonders for the relationship. 

I know a guy locally who does a lot of work with selective color in his photos, but it's mostly cityscape/walk around type stuff and it works really well for him and his subjects, granted he's been at it a long time.  It's not something I'm terribly keen to try as I think you have to be very careful what subjects you chose. 

[crasher8]

I wouldn't pass on a selective color to a client nor imagine one selling fine art wise but for my family I have done a few cute shots of my daughter or niece and just a accented a dress or bow. Informal it's fun…my 2 cents

[Phantom309]

The B&W version is a bit weird tbh... I understand that you're exploring the software and practicing some techniques but this shouldn't even be attempted imo.

+1 it looks really strange.

[pdirestajr]

The b&w with just eyes in color looks a little too demonic or like Michael Jackson at the end or thriller- basically, too unnatural/ jarring. If you want to emphasize the eyes, try perhaps slightly desaturating the rest of the image except the eyes, or masking them and using a curves adjustment to punch contrast/ saturation.

I don't think you need to go to the extreme as you did.

[NotABunny]

I doubt the first photo needs any negative clarity. The large amount that you've used just grayed out the highlights and has also created a high contrast between the eyes and the teeth.

[SteenerMe]

Mostly agree with the rest. Altgough for me the crop is a bit funky. Missing the hairline. I think if you going to cut the hairline out you should go a bit lower. Just a thought.

[GDub]

The eye thing is really weird. For the color image, bring the crop up just a tad under the lowest part of the necklace. IMHO, of course.

[wickidwombat]

the selective color thing on the eyes is super wierd and demonic looking
also the angle of view is not flatering exagerating the nose what lens did you use?
its quite wide and not really good for a head shot

[Drizzt321]

I forget what lens I was using at the time, it would have been something fairly wide as I was close to her and just grabbing a few shots in passing.

As for the selective eye thing, I was trying to get her eyes to stand out more...guess I succeeded, but not quite the effect I was looking for