Portrait of Teralyn on her birthday

[Jim Galli]

teralyn​

smiff lens, f5 8X10 film

critique is welcome but I fear overuse of the "critique desired" button so have not used it. The soft focus is by purpose. Does it work?

 

[Asher Kelman]

Hi Jim,

I really love the softness of the picture, she is placed in here own universe and this is a place that has an ethereal and pastoral feeling. Her smile is important and dominates the picture. So far it all works. The finished picture is warm and will be valued.

I do have a very strong issue with the eyes. This picture, however is good otherwise that we can nearly let it pass. However, I still have questions and to me, at least, I'd consider addressing it.

Still in a practical sense, this photograph demonstrates that even if the eyes are not as important as the smile and rest of the face, the picture can work superbly as in this case.

Asher

BTW, "smiff"?

 

[Jim Galli]

Hi Jim,

BTW, "smiff"?

Thanks Asher. I could investigate doing some local work with the eyes in PhotoShop but it would be difficult to achieve similar results with a traditional contact print. I assume you mean they just don't have any contrast or "life" as it were?

smiff as in pinkham & trying to do my part to not drive prices any higher.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Thanks Asher. I could investigate doing some local work with the eyes in PhotoShop but it would be difficult to achieve similar results with a traditional contact print. I assume you mean they just don't have any contrast or "life" as it were?

smiff as in pinkham & trying to do my part to not drive prices any higher.

Jim,

Do you have other pics from that shoot with eyes that are more defined? We could swap them. You'd then get back a new film negative to print! In taking the picture, I guess you were wide open. Could you have added a little Irish, a tilt to bring here eyes and mouth into focus? What BTW is the smurfs focal length. I like that one!

Asher

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Jim,

What a precious face and smile!

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Jim Galli]

Jim,

Do you have other pics from that shoot with eyes that are more defined? We could swap them. You'd then get back a new film negative to print! In taking the picture, I guess you were wide open. Could you have added a little Irish, a tilt to bring here eyes and mouth into focus? What BTW is the smurfs focal length. I like that one!

Asher

Hi, Jim,

What a precious face and smile!

Best regards,

Doug

Thanks Doug. Yes, she's a lovely lady and can light up a room with her smile.

Asher, well, I learned something. In photoshop I made the slightest of adjustments pixel by pixel. First I tried increasing contrast over the whole eye area. Scary. Next I tried throttling that back to just a few of the darker pixels and just the slightest increase in catchlight. No good. Funny how impossible eyes are. Almost anything I did threw the rest out of balance. I used the sharpen tool to just make the most subtle of sharpness around the catch light. You might get away with that but I eventually settled on the original values.

Here is a link to the other choices from the shoot. The Smiff is a 16". The sharp lens is an 18" Dallmeyer Petzval, and the only one without a smile is a Nicola Perscheid, also 16 1/2".

 

[Asher Kelman]

Hi Jim,

If you send me the a cut out of the Dalmeyer eyes and nose at 100% and the smiff, I'll have a go at making it fit. At least, I'll try and if I fail, I'll learn something myself!

use http://yousendit.com to send yourself the file and then PM me with the URL you sendit.com sends you.

Asher

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Jim,

Here is a link to the other choices from the shoot. .

I like number 4 the best.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[janet Smith]

The soft focus is by purpose. Does it work?

Absolutely! I think this is a beautiful portrait, I don't usually like soft focus portraiture, but I think this is lovely, I have no issue with the eyes, her smile is so beautiful, that her smile says everything....