# Portrait at the beach - final version?



## SquarePeg (Aug 1, 2017)

As always, I welcome any suggestions/comments/critique.  My daughter isn't a fan of this one because she thinks her face looks fat.  I like it because it's not her usual selfie that makes her look 17.


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## tirediron (Aug 1, 2017)

"I am smiling Mom!  Are you done yet?"  

I quite like this, and it's very refreshing to see an actual photo of a young teenager without arms stretched above their head!


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## otherprof (Aug 1, 2017)

SquarePeg said:


> As always, I welcome any suggestions/comments/critique.  My daughter isn't a fan of this one because she thinks her face looks fat.  I like it because it's not her usual selfie that makes her look 17.


Lovely portrait; beautiful model!


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## Donde (Aug 2, 2017)

Very nice. I might have included a little more space around her as the background looks nicely disolved.


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## jcdeboever (Aug 2, 2017)

Wonderful


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## smoke665 (Aug 2, 2017)

Very nice. Echoing your's and John's comments, it is refreshing to see a photo of a teenager not trying to look much older.


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## SquarePeg (Aug 2, 2017)

tirediron said:


> "I am smiling Mom!  Are you done yet?"
> 
> I quite like this, and it's very refreshing to see an actual photo of a young teenager without arms stretched above their head!



Thanks.  For me it's the dreamy expression on her face and her hair blown back off of it that make me love it.  These days when I point the camera at her she fixes her hair so it's all wavy over her shoulder and half in her face then she gives me that perfectly practiced smile.  Don't get me wrong, she looks great when she does all that but it's not how I see her!



otherprof said:


> SquarePeg said:
> 
> 
> > As always, I welcome any suggestions/comments/critique.  My daughter isn't a fan of this one because she thinks her face looks fat.  I like it because it's not her usual selfie that makes her look 17.
> ...



Thanks!



Donde said:


> Very nice. I might have included a little more space around her as the background looks nicely disolved.



This is a crop so I did mess with the framing a little bit.  I'll have to see if adding some space works better for me.  Thanks for the input!



jcdeboever said:


> Wonderful



Thanks jc!



smoke665 said:


> Very nice. Echoing your's and John's comments, it is refreshing to see a photo of a teenager not trying to look much older.



Thanks!


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## Gary A. (Aug 2, 2017)

Aaaahh ... The Princess.  Nicely done.


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## Dean_Gretsch (Aug 2, 2017)

Really nicely done.


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## gk fotografie (Aug 2, 2017)

SquarePeg said:


> As always, I welcome any suggestions/comments/critique.  My daughter isn't a fan of this one because she thinks her face looks fat.  I like it because it's not her usual selfie that makes her look 17.




A nice portrait of a lovely girl,  although I think this image will benefit with a bit of extra post processing.
I think when you use the ''curves and color balance sliders'' properly this portrait will improve instantly.
Mostly  I'm missing enough contrast. Normally forehead, cheeks and chin will catch more light and give structure to a face.  In your photo this important element is completely missing and perhaps this is giving an idea of  "I'm having a fat face" to your daughter.

Because there is no real twinkle in the eyes I created one and IMO this gives the portrait a positive vibe.
Removed a bit of the magenta colorcast, maybe my edit looks a bit harsh on the colors, but this is only because I just have a jpeg to work with, whilst you can do so much better with the original RAW file.
Please understand that this edit is nothing more than my personal interpretation.


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## SquarePeg (Aug 2, 2017)

gk fotografie said:


> SquarePeg said:
> 
> 
> > As always, I welcome any suggestions/comments/critique.  My daughter isn't a fan of this one because she thinks her face looks fat.  I like it because it's not her usual selfie that makes her look 17.
> ...



I see your point and you're probably right that the lack of shadow/contrast/contours on her face is what she doesn't like about it but I don't think I like this edit more than the smoother,  younger looking face in the original.  

On a side note, I see a lot of way too contrasty portraits on Facebook and Instagram lately and that seems to be in vogue right now but it's not to my taste.  The Mirrorless Mammas FB group is like a black and white tv where someone messed up the settings, but they all seem to love it.  Not sure why they want to make their kids look so scary, lol.  

I don't care for the added twinkle and find that, for me, it pulls focus away from her face as a whole.  It's all I can see when I look at it.  Maybe because I know it was added???  All this is, of course, a matter of taste and subject to all manner of personal preferences and styles.  I really appreciate your taking the time to provide your suggestions and your take on how you would post process the shot.  It's really helpful to see everyone's different approaches and styles.  Thanks!


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## vintagesnaps (Aug 2, 2017)

I think it's a little tight, I feel like it's in a little too close. I think that and the hair away from the face might be emphasizing the round shape of the face, maybe that's why she thinks she looks fat. That and she's a teenager so who knows! lol This looks real and she'd rather look cool?? or whatever the kids are saying these days, I"m not up on the latest!


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## SquarePeg (Aug 2, 2017)

vintagesnaps said:


> I think it's a little tight, I feel like it's in a little too close. I think that and the hair away from the face might be emphasizing the round shape of the face, maybe that's why she thinks she looks fat. That and she's a teenager so who knows! lol This looks real and she'd rather look cool?? or whatever the kids are saying these days, I"m not up on the latest!



Yeah it doesn't really bother me that she doesn't like it.  I do so it's a keeper for me.  I'll print it and put it in the folder with all of the other pics she insisted that I delete.  I'm thinking that when she's older she'll be happy to have a few that show more than just her usual perfected pose with practiced smile.   

I do have a wider crop on this with more space.  Before I print I'll take a look to see if more is better.  Thanks for your insights.


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## Derrel (Aug 2, 2017)

I think it's  avery nice shot of her. I want to crop off that left side, and get rid of the shoulder on that side. I prefer the color tones of the original to the edit the other poster did.

She might not like the shot now, but I can guarantee that in 10 years, this will be a cherished shot.


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## SquarePeg (Aug 2, 2017)

Derrel said:


> I think it's  avery nice shot of her. I want to crop off that left side, and get rid of the shoulder on that side. I prefer the color tones of the original to the edit the other poster did.
> 
> She might not like the shot now, but I can guarantee that in 10 years, this will be a cherished shot.



Her left or our left?


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## Derrel (Aug 2, 2017)

Our left is the area I thought might be cropped. I took a crack at it. My suggestions would be that the blacks are a bit too dense, mostly in the hair shadows...at the beach I expect there would be fairly light shadows due to some fill light from the sand, or from the water, or both. I added some digital fill light ( a lot, actually, +] 81), and then applied my Lightroom "Punch" preset to the crop I thought looked the best. I also used the clone tool to knock down a few pils on the sweatshirt.


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## BadRad (Aug 3, 2017)

This is why photography is so much fun.  I have three daughters and know your pain and joys.  I'd address two areas - neither critical. First, I'd compose (or heal out) that horizontal horizon, even as bokeh it grabs me too much.  So, higher or lower angle, or try another angle.  Good rule - shoot allot. Something will look best later.   Second, for her and that dreamy look, I'd go less low key and aim for high key, something more ethereal, a little softer, a glow, vs harder nor contrasty.  And ok ... #3, more head room. But, bottom line.  Beautiful girl, proud dad. A winner!!  Her face structure - can't comment. Don't know her but choice of lens and distance can modify that.  Thanks for posting this.  Lots of constructive ideas here.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## SquarePeg (Aug 3, 2017)

Ok - I edited this on my calibrated pc using PSE11.  Had to edit the jpeg version but since the exposure and wb were pretty good it wasn't a big issue.  Here are my final two versions.  Would love to know if you like these better than my original tablet/Snapseed edit and if so, which you like. I went with @BadRad 's suggestion for a lighter, more ethereal feel on #2.  Couldn't do anything about the headroom but did add some space back on the right.  I think I had originally cropped that side because I knew she wouldn't like the flying hair but since this is now just for me, I can have it my way.


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## smoke665 (Aug 3, 2017)

First one without the vignette.


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## SquarePeg (Aug 3, 2017)

smoke665 said:


> First one without the vignette.



First one as in first in the thread or first of the two above?


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## pixmedic (Aug 3, 2017)

honestly, except for being a little dark for my taste, your first, initial post is the best.
of your final two, the heavy vignetting on the first just kills it for me and the wife.
on the second...were not getting a "lighter or ethereal" feel...its just a blown highlights feel.

lighten up your initial post a bit and you have a winner.

EDIT: my personal opinion on vignetting is that it only really works on square or tall shots where the subject is centered. on shots where the subject is not centered and there is an unequal amount of space between the vignetting, i dont feel it really looks right. 
vignetting is more or less a framing tool. im not a huge fan of it in most cases, but when i do feel it works its always with centered subjects with even side spaces.


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## smoke665 (Aug 3, 2017)

SquarePeg said:


> smoke665 said:
> 
> 
> > First one without the vignette.
> ...



First one of the last edit. Don't think the vignette adds anything.


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## ZombiesniperJr (Aug 3, 2017)

Nice shot


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## birdbonkers84 (Aug 3, 2017)

SquarePeg said:


> As always, I welcome any suggestions/comments/critique.  My daughter isn't a fan of this one because she thinks her face looks fat.  I like it because it's not her usual selfie that makes her look 17.



She's beautiful, I really like the soft skin tone.  I think all that is missing is to slightly darken the shadows/blacks to bring a tiny bit of definition to her face, but not too much that you lose that nice tone in her skin. Some more room around her in the frame might help as well  


Sent from my iPhone using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app


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## Studio7Four (Aug 3, 2017)

Strictly a guess here, but maybe she thinks this makes her face look fat because her face is very square to the camera.  That's something as photographers we're (stereotypically) supposed to avoid, and even the selfie generation usually shoot themselves at angles.  So maybe she's just not accustomed to seeing her own face from this angle (at least in photos)?

That's not a criticism of the shot, by the way.  I really like the way that, even though her face is very square to the camera, her torso is turned slightly to her left and her eyes are looking slightly to her right.  This is a very nice, subtly dynamic, pose.

As for the editing, either your original or the first re-edit work for me.  The skin tone and hair color are enough different between the two that it seems to me that the editing had an impact (on one or both) - they're both fine to me, it's up to you to decide which is more representative of your daughter.  I do agree that the vignette adds nothing (and probably detracts).

As a parent, I really wish my girls would let me capture such a tranquil image!  Nice job!


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## Designer (Aug 3, 2017)

FWIW: I prefer the first post version.  Including the crop.


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## Designer (Aug 3, 2017)

SquarePeg said:


> My daughter isn't a fan of this one because she thinks her face looks fat.


This has made me curious as to what she thinks is a better portrait.  Does she always wear her hair in that style?  Do the photos she likes have different hairstyle?  Is there on that you can post? (even if it's her phone selfie)

If she is experimenting with different styles, find a source that shows different hairstyles with different facial structures so you can see the differences in how a hairstyle can affect the perceived overall look of the face.


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## SquarePeg (Aug 3, 2017)

pixmedic said:


> honestly, except for being a little dark for my taste, your first, initial post is the best.
> of your final two, the heavy vignetting on the first just kills it for me and the wife.
> on the second...were not getting a "lighter or ethereal" feel...its just a blown highlights feel.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the input. As for the vignetting - not sure why but it's my current obsession.  I'm sure I'll move on to something else eventually!



smoke665 said:


> SquarePeg said:
> 
> 
> > smoke665 said:
> ...



Got it! 



ZombiesniperJr said:


> Nice shot



Thanks!



Coull3d said:


> SquarePeg said:
> 
> 
> > As always, I welcome any suggestions/comments/critique.  My daughter isn't a fan of this one because she thinks her face looks fat.  I like it because it's not her usual selfie that makes her look 17.
> ...


Thanks!



Designer said:


> FWIW: I prefer the first post version.  Including the crop.





Designer said:


> SquarePeg said:
> 
> 
> > My daughter isn't a fan of this one because she thinks her face looks fat.
> ...



She has her "look" down pat and this isnt' it.  She definitely doesn't need my help finding it, lol.  Usually her hair is straight and to the side and her make-up is much more polished.   We were just messing around with my new camera at the beach so she didn't get a lot of time to prepare.  That's why she doesn't like this one right now but I think she will someday. 
Just a selfie but you get the idea of how she likes to present herself to the world.


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## smoke665 (Aug 3, 2017)

Just a footnote, if she thinks this photo makes her face look fat (I don't but I'm not a teenager), then maybe you need to review this thread by Dan Ostergren here  on TPF for future shots. Portrait Contouring Light Challenge Really helped me understand facial features and how light/shadow will change the look/shape of the face such that I've learned to look for it now.


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## Designer (Aug 3, 2017)

SquarePeg said:


> Just a selfie but you get the idea of how she likes to present herself to the world.


Right.  She already has it figured out.  I agree that the long straight frame flatters her face.


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## fmw (Aug 4, 2017)

Peg, flat lighting can work for a portrait.  I think the original image works quite well.  She is a pretty young lady.


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