# The Veteran's Portrait Project continues



## tirediron (Jul 24, 2016)

Chief Petty Officer, First Class, William F. McIntyre, CD (RCN, Ret'd)






As always, comments, critique and suggestions, greatly appreciated.


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## otherprof (Jul 25, 2016)

tirediron said:


> Chief Petty Officer, First Class, William F. McIntyre, CD (RCN, Ret'd)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Beautiful work. As usual, the lighting is amazing.


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## waday (Jul 25, 2016)

That is lovely!


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## pixmedic (Jul 25, 2016)

masterfully done sir. 
this is a great service to the veterans.


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## jcdeboever (Jul 25, 2016)

Man, that is an excellent image. My jaw drops every time I see one of your portraits, simply amazing. Nominated July POTM


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## tirediron (Jul 25, 2016)

otherprof said:


> Beautiful work. As usual, the lighting is amazing.


Thank-you!  It's actually very simple lighting; a single gridded BD high and right with a reflector opposite.



waday said:


> That is lovely!


Thank-you Wade! 



pixmedic said:


> masterfully done sir.
> this is a great service to the veterans.


Thanks Jason! 



jcdeboever said:


> Man, that is an excellent image. My jaw drops every time I see one of your portraits, simply amazing. Nominated July POTM


Thank-you very much JC!


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## Ysarex (Jul 25, 2016)

Excellent job overall.

Something to think about: Put it in PS and select the Lens Correction filter. Go to Custom and set the Transform/Vertical Perspective value to -10.

That will subtly change the perceived size relationship between his head and hands and it will also slim him slightly (not needed but positive nonetheless). If you see it as distorting the face then after applying the filter you can go to Image/Transform/Scale and squeeze the whole image down a smidge.

Joe


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## ronlane (Jul 25, 2016)

Very nicely done.


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## vintagesnaps (Jul 25, 2016)

That's beautifully done John, captures his dignity and portrays a certain authority that he still carries.


(And Joe, why would there be a reason to readjust the size of his head or body? I think the dark jacket against a dark background makes that stand out less than the higher contrast lighter hair color, but I don't think it requires adjustment.)


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## Beatles2 (Jul 25, 2016)

Job well done Sir!!


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## zombiesniper (Jul 25, 2016)

Another excellent job.

If I manage to get back to the island, I'll have to bring my medals and look you up.


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## Ysarex (Jul 25, 2016)

vintagesnaps said:


> (And Joe, why would there be a reason to readjust the size of his head or body? I think the dark jacket against a dark background makes that stand out less than the higher contrast lighter hair color, but I don't think it requires adjustment.)



Change the head/hands size relationship. Try it.

Joe


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## tirediron (Jul 25, 2016)

Ysarex said:


> Excellent job overall.
> 
> Something to think about: Put it in PS and select the Lens Correction filter. Go to Custom and set the Transform/Vertical Perspective value to -10.
> 
> ...


Excellent idea Joe, I will try that.



ronlane said:


> Very nicely done.


Thanks Ron!



vintagesnaps said:


> That's beautifully done John, captures his dignity and portrays a certain authority that he still carries.
> 
> 
> (And Joe, why would there be a reason to readjust the size of his head or body? I think the dark jacket against a dark background makes that stand out less than the higher contrast lighter hair color, but I don't think it requires adjustment.)


Thanks [the other] Sharon! 



Beatles2 said:


> Job well done Sir!!


Cheers! 


zombiesniper said:


> Another excellent job.
> 
> If I manage to get back to the island, I'll have to bring my medals and look you up.



Thanks Alex!  Absolutely; you're more than welcome.


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## tirediron (Jul 25, 2016)

Ysarex said:


> vintagesnaps said:
> 
> 
> > (And Joe, why would there be a reason to readjust the size of his head or body? I think the dark jacket against a dark background makes that stand out less than the higher contrast lighter hair color, but I don't think it requires adjustment.)
> ...


Here it is at +4; I tried +10 (and +8, +6 and +5), but I didn't like it.  That said, now I'm firmly convinced his hands are too prominent!


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## JoeW (Jul 26, 2016)

Very nice work for an admirable project.  Well done and thanks for sharing.

I'm okay about the hands.  For a traditional portrait, they are a bit prominent.  But for a military man, the hands being obvious and a bit distorted has a bit of symbolism I think.  We also have a triangle of the hands, head and metals that works visually.

The one thing that jumped out at me given the likely clothing of who you're shooting and the lighting is the dimple in the tie....it's big and it's off-center.  That (to me at least) becomes more eye-catching b/c everything is a bit darker and conservative.  Center the dimple.  Or make it a bit smaller.


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## smoke665 (Jul 26, 2016)

Wow tough crowd. I'm reminded when I see great work like yours being critiqued, that no matter how good we may get there's always room to improve. Despite any flaws pointed out I think it is great and one that the gentleman and his family will enjoy for years to come.


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## jcdeboever (Jul 26, 2016)

Original is way better.


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## Ysarex (Jul 26, 2016)

tirediron said:


> Ysarex said:
> 
> 
> > vintagesnaps said:
> ...



You do mean - and not +. Deliberately causing a downward convergence has the advantage of making his hands smaller as it makes his head larger (relatively de-emphasize the hands), but then it has the negative effect of stretching/elongating him. Countering that with Image/Adjustments/Scale gets you back a normal appearance in his face while keeping the changed head/hands relationship.

It's subtle, regardless it's an excellent portrait.

Joe


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## tirediron (Jul 26, 2016)

JoeW said:


> Very nice work for an admirable project.  Well done and thanks for sharing.
> 
> I'm okay about the hands.  For a traditional portrait, they are a bit prominent.  But for a military man, the hands being obvious and a bit distorted has a bit of symbolism I think.  We also have a triangle of the hands, head and metals that works visually.
> 
> The one thing that jumped out at me given the likely clothing of who you're shooting and the lighting is the dimple in the tie....it's big and it's off-center.  That (to me at least) becomes more eye-catching b/c everything is a bit darker and conservative.  Center the dimple.  Or make it a bit smaller.


Thanks Joe!  Appreciate that.  I did try and fix his tie, unfortunately it didn't want to cooperate and his wife just rolled her eyes and said, 'His ties ALWAYS look like that!' at which point I left well enough alone.  I agree it's not idea, and for a traditional portrait client, I would likely have really tried to fix it, but for this project, I like things like that; I can see his grandchildren saying, 'He never could get his tie right' or something similar.



smoke665 said:


> Wow tough crowd. I'm reminded when I see great work like yours being critiqued, that no matter how good we may get there's always room to improve. Despite any flaws pointed out I think it is great and one that the gentleman and his family will enjoy for years to come.


It's all good; critique is what drives us to improve.  I appreciate every comment I get on an image.



jcdeboever said:


> Original is way better.


Thanks JC



Ysarex said:


> You do mean - and not +. Deliberately causing a downward convergence has the advantage of making his hands smaller as it makes his head larger (relatively de-emphasize the hands), but then it has the negative effect of stretching/elongating him. Countering that with Image/Adjustments/Scale gets you back a normal appearance in his face while keeping the changed head/hands relationship.
> 
> It's subtle, regardless it's an excellent portrait.
> 
> Joe


Yes, I do mean "-", not sure why I typed "+" but the slider was set to "-".  Thanks!


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## smoke665 (Jul 26, 2016)

tirediron said:


> It's all good; critique is what drives us to improve. I appreciate every comment I get on an image



And that is the attitude that makes this site so great. I've been on other so called "Photography" sites whose sole purpose seemed to be self gratification for posting images regardless of the quality, and heaven forbid anyone makes constructive criticism. The board would jump on that person like a pack of wolves. The fact that you and others on here take the time to guide those less qualified like myself, yet can graciously accept critique, speaks highly of this forum.


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## johan65ZA (Jul 26, 2016)

Excellent work.


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## tirediron (Jul 26, 2016)

smoke665 said:


> And that is the attitude that makes this site so great. I've been on other so called "Photography" sites whose sole purpose seemed to be self gratification for posting images regardless of the quality, and heaven forbid anyone makes constructive criticism. The board would jump on that person like a pack of wolves. The fact that you and others on here take the time to guide those less qualified like myself, yet can graciously accept critique, speaks highly of this forum.


The thing is, no one is more qualified than anyone else to offer critique since it's all opinion.  Some people have more experience than others, and are able to offer more in-depth points, but at the end of the day, we're all equal.



johan65ZA said:


> Excellent work.


Thank-you!


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## Gary A. (Jul 27, 2016)

Well done ... And I salute you for taking on the project. Veterans deserve so much more than they get.  God Bless our vets and God Bless You.


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## tirediron (Jul 27, 2016)

Thanks Gary, from someone with your talent and background I take that as high praise indeed!   Much appreciated and agree 110% on the Veterans!


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