Formal portraits

I think my most successful photos in this category are #3 and #5. I like 3 because the different expressions are funny, showing all different parts of her personality. I also like the contrasting colors between the black and white and bright pink. I told her different stories to get the different expressions out of her, and I like the way they came out. My other favorite is #5 because I like the way she appears to be clinging to the Earth. I also like the expression on her face and how brightly lit it is. To edit this one, I burned the midtones on her face to make her features more visible. I also desaturated it because the colors were distracting, with her bright pink shirt clashing with the green grass.

Photo #4 was intended to be like a “magazine” shot. I emphasized her makeup and boosted the contrast to make it more dramatic. I also changed the colors a little to add interest. I like the way 6 came out after putting the 3 photos together. 2 needed some color correction. In 7, I selectively colored only the subject, but I desaturated that part a little too, because too much color made her appear to be floating, taking attention away from the mood of the photo.

Feedback from other people helped me a lot, especially because I noticed interesting photos I hadn’t noticed before. I wasn’t originally going to use 1, 2, or 5, but other people noticed them after I had passed over them multiple times, and now 5 is one of my favorites. Partially desaturating the subject in 7, burning the midtones in 5, and putting the three photos together in 6 were also suggestions from other people.