Vintage-Style Selfies

I modelled a few photos after Marilyn Monroe for a school film photography project, and I figured I'd take some digital headshots to play around with as well.
I wasn't sure whether I liked the first one better in black-and-white or colour. Critique is welcome, particularly on the retouching.  These were taken against a blank wall next to a window for light with a remote shutter control, so the lighting or focus won't be perfect.

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IMG_3790bw

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Attempt at a vintage photo look

I like the pose and lighting in the third one best.  Not sure what touchup you are referring to?

Kelly

KCook wrote: I like the pose and lighting in the third one best.  Not sure what touchup you are referring to?

Kelly

Thank you!  I'm referring to retouching as in the face (which isn't very smooth, and I'm horrible at airbrushing) and things like in-post touching up.  Like removing the bags under my eyes, I can see that I didn't do that very well but I dunno if anyone else can.

Right.  By vintage standards the skin is still a little rough, the old lenses were not that sharp!  Also, by the usual vintage stereotype, the light seems hard to me.  Even if it is window light, a sheer curtain might have softened things a little.  In post, especially for vintage purposes, the effect of the hard lighting could be softened by increasing the highlights slider.  I'm speaking Lightroom here, dunno wut the slider labels are on your editor.

As for under the eyes:  The eye that is camera right (shadow side) just looks like funky mascara.  Dunno if that was your intention or not.  The one to camera left could have used a spot fill.  Fortunately that can be simulated in post with brushes.

Kelly

I find #3 the most successful (and attractive). I would like to have seen some light on the camera right cheek, however, rather than straight on from the side. Turning the head slightly to the (camera) left might have resulted in a more compelling image.

I love the DoF and what it does to the necklace. A bit more light on the wall on (camera) right to delineate the hair would have been helpful, too. And the shadow from the shoulder on (camera) left is distracting to my eye.

Love the light on the wall.

If you're going to lean forward, lift the chin slightly to open up the expression.

I think you've got a great start here, and some tweaks could produce an outstanding (again, to my eye) portrait.

garyrhook wrote: I find #3 the most successful (and attractive). I would like to have seen some light on the camera right cheek, however, rather than straight on from the side. Turning the head slightly to the (camera) left might have resulted in a more compelling image.

I love the DoF and what it does to the necklace. A bit more light on the wall on (camera) right to delineate the hair would have been helpful, too. And the shadow from the shoulder on (camera) left is distracting to my eye.

Love the light on the wall.

If you're going to lean forward, lift the chin slightly to open up the expression.

I think you've got a great start here, and some tweaks could produce an outstanding (again, to my eye) portrait.

Good points, thank you!
With self-portraits, I can't see what I'm doing so it creates a bit of a block as far as composition.  I'm all for burning, but I find dodging is harder to do on portraits (while still making it look natural/realistic).  That said, I tried dodging the hair a bit to get some details back but ultimately failed.  The shadow on the left shoulder is because I forgot to put my arm down after using the remote xD  I may have another photo where that shoulder is square with the other that I can try editing the same way, this one just seemed to be the only one with the focus right.

The one thing that's picking me about that last photo is the huge shadow under the (camera) left eye.  I actually tried softening it and epic failed.  Any suggestions?

Leilanee wrote: With self-portraits, I can't see what I'm doing so it creates a bit of a block as far as composition.

Ah. +1 for the articulated display, despite it not being "professional".  (Yeah, I'm still digging on that one...) Got a laptop you can tether to? Even without live view you could at least see the result of each shot and adjust/reposition accordingly.

Leilanee wrote: I'm all for burning, but I find dodging is harder to do on portraits (while still making it look natural/realistic).  That said, I tried dodging the hair a bit to get some details back but ultimately failed.

I don't recall whether you've ever noted your dodge/burn technique, but I encourage you to look into this one:

www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-editing/dodge-burn/

This was the first hit on my search, so I verified it had the content I intended and copied the URL. There are lots of them out there. Dodge and burn brushes in PS are, IMO, worthless.

Leilanee wrote: The one thing that's picking me about that last photo is the huge shadow under the (camera) left eye.  I actually tried softening it and epic failed.  Any suggestions?

Yeah. Move on. I think it would take a lot of work to mitigate that problem and make it look good. That's a re-shoot situation, sadly. This is where the feedback of a display would help you out.

garyrhook wrote: Got a laptop you can tether to? Even without live view you could at least see the result of each shot and adjust/reposition accordingly.

I've never considered that, I'll have to look up how to do that.

dodge/burn technique

I don't have one; that's probably the problem.  I choose highlights/midtones/shadows based on what I want to pull, put it to a low opacity and click.  Thanks for the link!

Yeah. Move on. I think it would take a lot of work to mitigate that problem and make it look good. That's a re-shoot situation, sadly. This is where the feedback of a display would help you out.

Yeah I figured.

This came by today; thought I'd share it. Haven't watched yet, but there's gotta be something good in there somewhere.