My submission to the Purple III challenge did really badly and came 209th with an average of just over 4.
The majority of people thought I was in direct light which made my skin look washed-out. I don't quite understand how nobody saw it was a simple edit (red hue lowering) to pale my face a bit and make my purple hair stand out more. There was no direct light in my face, the flash was on low. When a facial picture is washed out, more often than not you can't make out the features properly; my lips, nose, eyes and even a scar on my chin were perfectly visible.
Even though I was disappointed, I was willing to quietly accept my low mark, before I saw another picture in the contest that was extremely washed out and somehow ranked at almost double my place. I had to wonder if the edit I made really wasn't that obvious to anyone but myself and a select couple of friends.
I'd love someone's feedback now that the results are in, please?
I found that the clarity of the image was a little lacking. Please excuse my lack of expertise (I'm sure others will give you a more technical critique), but your face did seem to lack detail to me (perhaps that how it was shot). Also there seemed to be a lot of noise in the photo (for example in the shadow under your chin) and the lighting is a little harsh (from the sharp shadow under your chin again).
Just my initial thoughts. Good luck in the current challenge!
i like the idea of the shot, but i think lonni is correct in that it is a little too soft, also the comments on direct light probably also come from the harsh shadow of your chin on your neck....shadows like that always turn people off. Again i like the idea behind it and you make a very attractive model. keep shooting!
I found that the clarity of the image was a little lacking. Please excuse my lack of expertise (I'm sure others will give you a more technical critique), but your face did seem to lack detail to me (perhaps that how it was shot). Also there seemed to be a lot of noise in the photo (for example in the shadow under your chin) and the lighting is a little harsh (from the sharp shadow under your chin again).
Just my initial thoughts. Good luck in the current challenge!
Good luck to you too! :)
I didn't realise that the chin-shadow was so much of a problem, I had thought it was quite a soft shadow. I'm very shy by nature and posting a full photo of my face was kinda huge for me, so I must have instinctively had my head down a little, causing that shadow. I'll have to work on my light sources. Thanks for the input!
i like the idea of the shot, but i think lonni is correct in that it is a little too soft, also the comments on direct light probably also come from the harsh shadow of your chin on your neck....shadows like that always turn people off. Again i like the idea behind it and you make a very attractive model. keep shooting!
Thanks very much, you're very kind. I'm gonna try harder to work to make the light more favourable in future; I've always had trouble with the flash in photos.
