I'll concede the point to someone who knows far more than I do about the topic. As you and others have pointed out, the overall range of EVs is too great across the scene. Best to fix that upfront with different lighting balance. My point was that, for these photos already shot, a rescue might be as simple as an overall exposure reduction. Maybe at the expense of some shadow detail, but that might be a preferable outcome. I am way worse than a novice when it comes to PS manipulations in general, so I know that for me any rescue of the type you suggested would result in total disaster. So I look for alternative approaches. As I implied, I make no claim that my way is the right way, just another possible approach.
stan On Sep 22, 2011, at 8:11 PM, Bruce Walker wrote: > On 11-09-22 8:46 PM, Stan Halpin wrote: >> My quick very non-judgmental reactions (i.e., based on feel, not on analysis >> using my own or others' criteria for what makes a good portrait): >> >> a. Good model. You are lucky to have her as your model, she is lucky to have >> you as her photographer. >> b. The left side of the three portraits all seem "hot" to me. I wouldn't >> fiddle to the extent suggested by Bruce; I would just lower overall exposure >> a notch or two. > > Stan, the trouble with attempting to tame the hotspot by reducing overall > exposure is that you'll probably end up with underexposure on 98% of the face > with just the hotspot correctly exposed. > > You need to either use some makeup (eg powder) to kill the reflection there, > or place a gobo to cut the direct light, or use a larger, less harsh light > source. Christine could likely have positioned a white diffuser on a stand > in front of the window to act both as a partial gobo and to enlarge the light > source to cut the glare. But that would have altered the nature of the light > and produced a different portrait. > > -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
