07-05-2011, 12:31 AM
For what is worth, I like both shots <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
I am not personally a fan of heavy retouch on portraits, in particular of skin blemish removal and/or skin softening.
However, if you are working for money and the client is looking for a magazine-like kind of feel, often you can't really get away from doing that as 99% of what you see on magazine and newspapers is actually retouched. Sometimes it can be a good idea to present them with a fully retouched and a more taditional version of the same shots, and see what they like better.
One thing that you might want to try though, is to lighten up slightly the background, I found that this often helps making the subject stand out and is not too an obtrusive or cheesy approach.
As a previous poster pointed out, it's easy to overdo postprocessing. Becoming familiar with traditional darkroom tecniques and replicating those is often a good approach to avoid getting lost, at least at the start, I think.
As for improving, I guess there are as many approaches as there are photographers.
I am sure there must be good manuals about portraiture, but I think spending time looking at the work of portrait artists which you like is simply invaluable. Salgado series about children and workers are a good example of outstanding portrait work, but then, that's my taste <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Workers-Archaeology-Industrial-Sebastiao-Salgado/dp/089381525X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309825569&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sebasti%C3%A3o-Salgado-Children-Refugees-Migrants/dp/089381895X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309825543&sr=1-1
There is also a documentary about Salgado work for "workers", which says a lot about his approach to getting to know about his subjects and their lives (and his gear too, if you think that matters in any way and you are into leica rangefinders <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
Also, creating occasions of photographing is very useful. For instance, if you have friends who work professionally with models, you could volunteer for assisting with the lights and reflectors, learn a bunch in the process while getting a few shots yourself with an experience model (which is quite different from photographing other kind of subjects).
Volunteering to photograph members of non-profit is another interesting option, as often these people have a sense of purpose about what they do, which you can strive to capture with your photographs.
In general, getting to know a bit more about your subjects, what they think and what they do, helps getting better shots, I found, but then again, I am a Salgado fan <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
If you are looking for a manual, recently I happened to read a very good one about photographing children, which I found quite good for general portrait work too. By the way, offering to photograph your friends and their children can create really good opportunities for meaningful portraits.
If you want to have a look, that's the book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Photographing-Children-Develop-Photography-Workshop/dp/0470114320/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309825402&sr=1-1
And a very good one about light in general (very cool, but quite in-depth):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Science-Introduction-Photographic-Lighting/dp/0240808193/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309825490&sr=1-1
Just my 2 cents, hope it helps.
' />I am not personally a fan of heavy retouch on portraits, in particular of skin blemish removal and/or skin softening.
However, if you are working for money and the client is looking for a magazine-like kind of feel, often you can't really get away from doing that as 99% of what you see on magazine and newspapers is actually retouched. Sometimes it can be a good idea to present them with a fully retouched and a more taditional version of the same shots, and see what they like better.
One thing that you might want to try though, is to lighten up slightly the background, I found that this often helps making the subject stand out and is not too an obtrusive or cheesy approach.
As a previous poster pointed out, it's easy to overdo postprocessing. Becoming familiar with traditional darkroom tecniques and replicating those is often a good approach to avoid getting lost, at least at the start, I think.
As for improving, I guess there are as many approaches as there are photographers.
I am sure there must be good manuals about portraiture, but I think spending time looking at the work of portrait artists which you like is simply invaluable. Salgado series about children and workers are a good example of outstanding portrait work, but then, that's my taste <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />http://www.amazon.co.uk/Workers-Archaeology-Industrial-Sebastiao-Salgado/dp/089381525X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309825569&sr=1-2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sebasti%C3%A3o-Salgado-Children-Refugees-Migrants/dp/089381895X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309825543&sr=1-1
There is also a documentary about Salgado work for "workers", which says a lot about his approach to getting to know about his subjects and their lives (and his gear too, if you think that matters in any way and you are into leica rangefinders <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />Also, creating occasions of photographing is very useful. For instance, if you have friends who work professionally with models, you could volunteer for assisting with the lights and reflectors, learn a bunch in the process while getting a few shots yourself with an experience model (which is quite different from photographing other kind of subjects).
Volunteering to photograph members of non-profit is another interesting option, as often these people have a sense of purpose about what they do, which you can strive to capture with your photographs.
In general, getting to know a bit more about your subjects, what they think and what they do, helps getting better shots, I found, but then again, I am a Salgado fan <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />If you are looking for a manual, recently I happened to read a very good one about photographing children, which I found quite good for general portrait work too. By the way, offering to photograph your friends and their children can create really good opportunities for meaningful portraits.
If you want to have a look, that's the book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Photographing-Children-Develop-Photography-Workshop/dp/0470114320/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309825402&sr=1-1
And a very good one about light in general (very cool, but quite in-depth):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Science-Introduction-Photographic-Lighting/dp/0240808193/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309825490&sr=1-1
Just my 2 cents, hope it helps.