<<< o >>>fleetwood watchkeeper 14 comments + add yours
chromasia.com

I met this guy while providing some one-to-one training for Mat Schenks. We'd headed up to Fleetwood to shoot the beach, but bumped into this guy starting his shift at the Fleetwood Coast Watch station.

If you're interested, Mat's shot is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11119558/...

I've also posted this image as this week's Mini-PSD as there were a number of interesting aspects to the post-processing, including using multiply blend mode to darken the image and adding an image based layer set to Color blend mode to restore the original colours.

captured
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
image editor
plugins (etc)
cropped?
10.33am on 26/3/11
Canon 5D Mark II
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
46mm
f/8.0
1/80
aperture priority
+2/3
evaluative
100
no
RAW
Camera Raw
Photoshop CS5
Topaz Detail
minor rotation
 
3x2 + people [portraiture] + no print + show the original
comment by Justin Photis at 08:05 AM (GMT) on 18 April, 2011

He looks an interesting guy. There's a nice tone to this shot that I really like. Alomost silver. I do though find the wall a bit distracting and maybe I'd have lightened it more ?
Also the difference in his eyes between the original and the final version looks huge when you flick between the two, but doesn't look out of place in the final version. Nice.

comment by Simon at 11:00 AM (GMT) on 18 April, 2011

Sorry but I think the eyes just aren't right. I thought fresh ones had been cut and pasted in and dodged into submission until I saw they were from the original - albeit much modified.

The light on them just doesn't seem to match the rest of the face

comment by Cristian Tibirna at 11:04 AM (GMT) on 18 April, 2011

Overcontrasting puts an evil expression in the eyes. It's not evident immediately, but it bothers in hindsight. Until one compares with the original. Then it becomes striking. Nice treatment for the skin, though.

comment by Carlos Garcia at 11:21 AM (GMT) on 18 April, 2011

Nice portrait. I like the clarity and contrast that your processing creates. Great detail.

comment by djn1 at 11:44 AM (GMT) on 18 April, 2011

Simon & Cristian: I've toned down his eyes a bit as I agree, they were a bit overdone.

Justin & Carlos: thanks :)

comment by Dan Kaufman at 03:06 PM (GMT) on 18 April, 2011

After looking...going away, coming back...and looking again...I think I'm in the "eye group". They feel just a bit too detailed, maybe it's the whites, too white?
Love the detail in his beard though!
(in the cloning of the black mark at lower left, is there a left over artifact, slightly orange?)

comment by Chris Yakimov at 05:01 PM (GMT) on 18 April, 2011

Wow - I quite like the detail in the eyes - gives them a glassy look that makes his face very mystic or seer-like. But maybe I'm just into that thing - I was about to write "I LOVE the eyes!" but then I saw all the comments above :)

comment by Gusztav at 05:03 PM (GMT) on 18 April, 2011

amazing photo. I really like the eyes

comment by Gusztav at 08:59 PM (GMT) on 18 April, 2011

I am following 20+ photoblogs, that means 15-20 photos per day. Most PS-ed photos are closed instantly as they have nothing to offer. 3 photos per day are taken seriously. I look at them, I comment, and that's it. This tab however is being kept open for about 7 hours as I check back from time to time. I still like it, I still don't know what to say apart from "I like the eyes". You got me. It's true art. I love to see Photoshop as a tool in the hands of creativity, and not something that tries to replace creativity at all. And this is it. Thank you very much for sharing.

comment by Web Design Company bangalore at 06:40 AM (GMT) on 19 April, 2011

The photo is looking good and his mustache is very long and the eyes are really inspiring

comment by Trevor Page at 06:53 AM (GMT) on 19 April, 2011

Like this a lot. The wall gives perfect context to this man and his job. Seeing how you brought out and enhanced his character with the mini-psd is really useful. The only change I would make would be to darken the brightest part of his upper right eyelid very slightly. But that is me being real picky. Thanks again.

comment by djn1 at 08:53 AM (GMT) on 20 April, 2011

Thanks everyone.

Gusztav: thanks, your comment is much appreciated :)

Trevor: yep, that would probably work, but it doesn't bother me enough to change it :)

comment by Jessica Sweeney at 03:07 AM (GMT) on 25 April, 2011

The processing on this one is a bit overdone, for my taste. And actually the skin bothers me more than the eyes. But mine is just one opinion. :-)

comment by street photography at 09:14 AM (GMT) on 30 April, 2011

This looks so natural . The most beautiful thing in the image is expression of the eyes.