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Eva
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First time to post a photo up for critique so taking a deep breath here. I took this photo over a year ago of my daughter and I used some downloaded actions to soften her skin. I’m really interested to hear people’s opinion of actions tbh (hence my inclusion of a poll above)-is it considered cheating?..do you use them? I haven’t mastered PS yet to create my own but I am working on it ..daily!
Thanks for taking the time to give feedback- I’ve learned loads by reading other feedback especially in this section…
[edited to increase size of image – ya see I’m learning all the time:D ]
I don’t usually use ‘actions’, with the exception of the Nik Sharpener plugin, and the Genuine Fractals plugin-
neither of which are free-Your picture is so tiny that it’s impossible to tell what effect those actions might have had,
though you might not be doing your young daughter any favours by implying that her skin is in some way imperfect…
which I’m quite sure is not the case.Recently, I’ve discovered that my preferred format and lenses are too sharp for ladies of a certain age,
but I’m really not interested in fixing the pixels,
I’ll be having a look at my lenses instead.
And trying to find some helpful aberrations.Interesting question though, does it imply that we’re mostly dissatisfied with our photography?
Does software make everything better?Interesting too that you’re not asking for feedback on the picture, just some processing steps…
Are you more interested in photoshop than photography?Presumably, in a year, you might have taken more than one picture of her?
I think, and this is only my opinion, that looking, and finding the right light, and using it to make pictures might be more important,
and in the case of portraiture, finding a perspective that suits the sitter-
take a look at some recent pictures in this section by nfl-fan…Taking pictures from above tends to objectify the sitter, and literally diminish them-
the standard advice for photographing children is to get down to their level.I think it would have helped this one more than applying some actions later.
I don’t usually comment on pictures of kids, especially ones that I don’t know,
but I did find the notion of adding skin softening to a child’s portrait, em, interesting…joseph
Thanks for your feedback Joesph. I want to clarify a few points..:lol:
First of all, the reason I posted up this photo of my daughter taken a year ago (and yes there have been thousands taken since that :D ) is that it is one of my favourites of her as I think it captures who she is as a person. When I look at this photo I see her. Sometimes photos don’t capture the person as they really are..if that make sense. I posted this one up for critique as it is one that I am really pleased with – but that’s just me. I was interested to hear what others thought about it technically..so cheers for that..As for the use of actions, as an amateur photographer I haven’t yet mastered my camera to create the desired effects consistently- I’m constantly learning which is why I joined up here on this forum. Sometimes I get it right other times I don’t. That’s what makes me an amateur. I know there’s no substitute for getting the image right straight out of the camera, before software is used (or not as the case may be) to enhance it digitally. I included the poll simply because I was curious about the use of actions in the photography community. I happen to like some of the effects they create- I do think they can enhance skin tone especially for women of a certain age etc. I ran the skin tone action on my daughter’s photo above as I had just purchased it and wanted to try out the effects of it. She has some minor scarring around her eye and I think I used the action primarily to see what it could do. For this example I have shown the original photo SOOC – no tweaking. Perhaps it would have been fairer of me to ask to have this photo critiqued instead. That was my point really – me just being curious…do you see photoshop actions as cheating? Hope I have clarified this point.
Thanks for your feedback – some interesting points raised.
I think working in software is important. Every shot I take is processed – often just some sharpening. Mnaipulation is often important, e.g. brightening whites of eyes, removing skin blemishes (or food for the kids!), cropping. I see nothing wrong with this. If we get to caught up in perfect replication we will loose the art – and who said they wanted a perfect image of themselves anyway! Softfocus lenses have been around for years to help skin tones, so using a PS plugin for me is not much different.
Well, using a lens to me is very different from using a computer-
one forms an image, the other distorts one that has already been made.One involves a conscious decision about the making of a picture,
the other can be applied to anything on a whim…but everyone will have a different opinion-
I’m glad you made that clarification Lainey- although there are other ways to retouch blemishes and scars-
I think your original picture looks quite underexposed…
I haven’t used any plug-in actions for photoshop – I got one once – but hated it because they tend to apply accross the image and I’m not a big fan of handing that much control over ;)
I’m also not a fan of plastic/ over processed skin – and untill recently haven’t seen a plugin for skin blurring that is subtle enough –
( Ciaran cam across one which looks interesting – you can see his review here http://www.thewonderoflight.com/articles/?p=649%20class= )In terms of the images you have posted I have to agree with JB – you need to post a larger version of before and after to make any judgement ont the image itself
L
Apologies for the smaller image above – hope I have rectified that by choosing the size recommended for message boards.
LoGill – I agree with you totally about the universal effect of actions – sometimes you just don’t want to apply their effect all over the image. I’ve since tried learning the step by step approach so that I can have more control over what happens. As a matter of interest the ones I used were from http://www.MPCactions.com (purchased) and http://www.thepioneerwoman.com (free). Thanks for posting up that link on Portraiture. Recently I was at a weekend photography course and the tutor provided us with a photoshoot and then showed her workflow using Portraiture. Having been on the receiving end of this software I can safely say it would be a great investment (ten years younger and all that!:lol:).
Thanks again for the feedback.
Hi Lainey. I think of photoshop.paintshop,lightroom and all other software as parts of a toolbox and that the way we use the tools can either fix or create an item (image in this case) to our own personal taste. We are all individuals with different tastes and views and as such, will see things differently. I don’t think everyone will agree with me when I say that your posted photo is excellent, but if you’re happy with it, then it is. I think it’s a very nice image of your daughter, seen from the perspective of a parent who is taller, and is therefore more natural. It may not be the “correct” perspective in photographic terms, and may or may not be the most flattering angle to shoot from but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. I don’t believe that there has been a “perfect photograph” ever taken, in which everyone will think of it as perfect, therefore, I think you can relax about using your toolbox to make the image that pleases you the most. No it’s not cheating.
Thanks for that Mikig- I appreciate the encouragement :lol:
I took that image as part of an online photography course last year and one of the modules was about using bodies to create angles. Flattering female angles-shoulders down etc I was putting that theory into practice with the image. I can see now that it would have benefited from me getting a little lower to herself- see I’ve learned something new! :D
I watched a video on that a while ago, and even without using software to alter an image of someone, the person being photographed looked, thinner and younger by about 10 years. She looked like a different person. Great stuff.
Ah Mick-
I thought I might see you around here-Perhaps distort is a bit of a blunt word to use,
but it’s usually the first tool I reach for-
Of all the things photoshop can do (which are many)
the one thing it has difficulty with is the replication of focus effects.It might be possible to fake it on web images,
but given a large enough image, it’s possible to spot that it’s a pretty blunt tool.
If it’s an effect worth having, and worth going to the trouble of attempting to emulate,
then perhaps it’s worth doing properly during capture,
so as not to call attention to itself later.Yes, processing and effects can be used to enhance images,
but also they can become the dominant part of an image-
they need to be be done well if they are to succeed.There are bad images made with nothing more than a lens,
and there are good images rescued from weak originals with the judicious use of a brush and palettes.
However, although photoshop borrows some terminology and techniques from the history of photography,
it borrows considerably more from the art of painting.Airbrushing, as this type of retouching used to be called, is a painting technique.
It has always been done, sometimes well, sometimes not so well.
However, a crossover point is reached-
at some point there is a danger that the image becomes more painting than photograph-
and it doesn’t really matter whether your tools are made by Adobe or Devilbiss-This distinction is utterly meaningless to some, and some will persist in calling it a photograph-
no matter, if it’s a good image it’s a good image-But I like a good photograph too-
joseph.
I agree Joseph. A subtle bit of post processing is ok to fine tune a photograph to make it a little better, whereas overdoing any of the effects available tend to distort the original image and create an unatural new one which is rarely as pleasing to the eye as one with a few small (natural) blemishes.
I use actions – downloaded for free and made myself. I don’t use many just those that shorten a sequence of steps in PS that I would normally follow anyway. What you need to understand are that actions aren’t magic – they’re only a collection or sequence of Photoshop tools with the convenience of one click. Ciaran had a nice collection here recently which can be downloaded:
http://www.thewonderoflight.com/misc/CiaransActions.atn
Nothing startling about the make-up of them but they’re useful. I can’t be specific about portraiture actions that make the skin blemish free…I wouldn’t be keen on them anyway but on the greater scheme of things actions are handy tools. Don’t confuse them with cheating or leaving the enhancement of your photos to someone else as all actions can be modified. If they are global enhancements just copy the layer and mask off where you don’t want it to affect.
Alan.
I’m a lazy git, which means if I have to do anything more than once, I’ll automate it; hence my actions
http://www.thewonderoflight.com/misc/CiaransActions.atn
As Lorraine said, I recently downloaded the portraiture plugin and have been playing with that. So far the results have been very positive. It’s not cheap, but I think the quality of the output justifies the cost. Like anything, processing has to be applied sympathetically for it to be effective. As for the original post, it is too small to see in detail, but the blurring looks very OTT to me.
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