what do you think of this female model retouch?

[robster]

Before and After: Brutal is best, I can take it

Rob


and


ta

Rob

[Alex]

I think I'd like to see more tonal separation in the final result. Also I think the face is a bit soft unless it was an effect you were going for. Otherwise, it's not bad.

Alex

[Geoff]

I would agree with Alex here. I think you've got the lighting quite nicely done, however I find her face too soft. Was this intentional?

[Matt. K]

Rob
You asked for brutal honesty.....here it is. First off...look carefully at the image and see if you can determine where the visual 'energy' is. It is in her eyes. This is what we all see first. We then follow her gaze to????out of the picture space. Anything that leads the eye out of the picture space weakens the composition and impact of the image. Solution? Next time ask her to look into the lens...or at some other point of interest in the image This other point of interest could be something in her hands etc.

Next thing is the background. It is rarely a good thing to photograph someone standing close to the background. Ask her to step forward about 5 paces (if you have the room) and the background will turn into a featureless space that will not distract the viewer from the main elements of the image.

They are the only two things that I think work against the image.
Cheers

[wendellt]

it's
good but it needs more room around the subject to flatter the concept
which i am asuming is 'subject' out of darkness or

[zafra52]

I see what you all mean, but composition and framing issues aside, which of course are very important, I find the first photograph more to my taste despite it shortcomings because it comes across as a more natural shot. I find the look of the other shots a bit artificial. I guess, and it is only my opinion, playing with the image in Photoshop or any other program is alright providing it enhances this image and results in a reasonable natural picture, however in this case the clever tweaking has produced a synthetic image almost as if the model was created with a graphic application. In my modes opinion, and this comes from someone that can hardly find the shutter button most of the times, I would have sharpened the image a bit, not too much, and blurred the background just a touch.

[digitor]

rasice,

Wide images like you posted are not a good idea, they make a lot of people have to scroll to read the posts on that page. 800 pixels is the limit!

Having said that, I think that having the pupils on the edge of the eye like that is a bit of a no-no for portraits - it looks like she was distracted by somebody tapping on the window, just as the shutter was released!

Cheers

[Greg B]

Rob

I actually like the treatment here. I like the softness and the colouring and the mystery of the subject gazing off to the right of frame.

At the same time, I think the other comments here - Matt's in particular - are excellent advice, I just happen to really like your shot the way you have done it.

Great model too, by the way.

[joolz]

I think it's a nice photo and though I agree about some of the compositional suggestions, it still works for me.
In any case this is a PP section, so I have taken the liberty of doing a quick 15minute take on what I would consider doing.
Some blemish retouching, vignette, curves, highlights & colour balance:

[Bob G]

I think MATT k has pretty much nailed it in terms of constructive critique