The first picture I photographed was a charcoal portrait from my Spring drawing class. We were supposed to find a face and make a drawing by taking away layers of charcoal from the drawing paper. It is a portait of a Tuareg girl and I was drawn to this face because of its natural beauty. Taking a picture of this black and white portrait outside was quite challenging because every shot was fairly gray, regardless of the position towards the light. After the photo was cropped and auto adjusted, it still had light blueish/grayish tone. I used black/white adjustment to make it as dark as in reality.
The second picture is my entry to the student juried exhibition. Assignment was to make a master copy, and I selected Georgia O’Keefe flower because of its vibrant colors. After I took the picture with my camera using natual daylight and used auto adjustment, the colors became bright and very close to reality.
I think you did an excellent job adjusting the photos and creating eye catching images. I really like the way you got extreme darks in the charcoal portrait. It’s also a very powerful piece from its composition and mood. The one criticism I have is it seems that the head is tilted to the left. Did you use a tripod like the video did? I don’t have a tripod so I’m going to try to get by without one.
I really like your second picture. The colors are incredibly vibrant and it makes me wonder what it looks like in person. Did you have to crop out much from this piece or do the petals extend off the edge of the paper in the original?
Devante, thank you for your feedback. I used a tripod for taking both pictures. I have not noticed a tilt on the first one, but maybe I see only what I want to see and not what is acually there. For the second picture, the petals were extending beyond the paper and I cropped the picture just a little bit.
Both paintings are beautiful. I like the contrast of the dark charcoal of the first and the bright reds and oranges of the second. I can see how the first picture you would have had trouble with lighting. I know it must have been difficult to try to keep it from looking too gray and muddle the lines.
I can’t really think of anything you could have done to improve on how you took the pictures or adjusted them in PS. I used the exposure setting, and I was wondering if you tried that with the first image. I don’t think you would need to adjust it too much, but maybe a number or two. It might add just a little more light but still keep the dark tones you achieved with the white/black adjustment. I had to really adjust mine in order to offset the tungsten feature I used when I took the picture. However, because you were using daylight, it most likely wouldn’t have needed too much. I think you did an excellent job!
Beautiful pictures! The dark tones of the portrait help bring out her somewhat of a secretive, Mona Lisa -like smile. A stunning portrait. Both photos look very professional to me.