In The Raw Tell me what you think......?

Question:Many photog. Hate to show their photos untouched and in the bare, especially inexperienced ones who sometimes have a lot to hide. But I on the other hand feel that this beats around the bush so Im just putting my images out there in the bare. Feel free to comment on the overall image but what I want to know is what do you think about my lighting? Planning on making three different photos of a specific tone(color) to hang up on my wall and would like to know what peepz thought.

Untouched at all
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/4157/...
Colored the way I envisioned it

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/4892/...

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Many photog. Hate to show their photos untouched and in the bare, especially inexperienced ones who sometimes have a lot to hide. But I on the other hand feel that this beats around the bush so Im just putting my images out there in the bare. Feel free to comment on the overall image but what I want to know is what do you think about my lighting? Planning on making three different photos of a specific tone(color) to hang up on my wall and would like to know what peepz thought.

Untouched at all
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/4157/...
Colored the way I envisioned it

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/4892/...

Looks like he has a massive bruise on his face! Blue light doesn't work with this subjects skin tone IMHO, but the basic setup is fine.

Try this if you have Photoshop, open a Levels Adjustment layer.

Using the 'pipettes' on the bottom right select the right hand one (the white point) and click in the white of his eye.

Select the left pipette (Black point) and click at the roots of his hair.

With the centre pipette selected (Gamma or Grey point) try clicking in the 'bruise' on his cheek in various places, on the highlight on his cheekbone theres a 'sweet spot' that will make the skin tone on his hand (and therefore the rest of the image) perfect. Give it a try.

Once you have it perfect you can play with various colour casts using a Curves adjustment layer selecting the channels (Red, Blue or Green). and selecting the centre of the curve and dragging to the top left to increase the colour and bottom right to decrease.

As you've shot in Raw try turning down the exposure for your start image to bring detail back into the right hand (as we look at it) of his face. Always try to start with the exposure optomised in camera, it makes the job easy,

If you do the above with 'discretion' nobody will say 'over photoshopped' the best manipulation should, by and large, be invisible, unless you're after extremes.

I like where you're coming from - good effort.

Chris

The lighting is great, tone as well.

I don't think "photography" when I see that.

Your Photoshop work is too obvious. In the original image, the blue light fades on the model's face. In your photoshopped image the blue just stops, making it look like...well, photoshopped face paint. The arm and fingers don't look too bad but the transition between blue and not on the face is so abrupt. I like what you did with the shirt, but why desaturate only the skin? I think it would much more effective to desaturate everything with only the blue light OR enhance the blue without desaturating anything.

I don't want to create a tiff, but since I got my new camera, I always shoot in te RAW ...............mode!!!

second one looks better get a different model!!!!

looks promising however you do need to attack your sensor with some compressed air and/or sensor swabs.

Personally, I like for my work to be as untouched as possible, aside from contrast and levels adjustment. I rather like to see people in their natural state, flaws and all and I think that creating off the wall color tones for portraits takes away from the mood and feel of emotion held within the photograph. Not to say I'm against toning, but I'm more a traditionalist when it comes to that sort of thing. It's all about perserving the mood, not "creating" one. My opinion only.