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Toad - too soft?
If you are going for the look some of the "old" masters got with oils then by no means is this too soft.
For me it is right on the money (I like this look). Dreamy, surrealistic (sp?)
candle light beauty. This is a style I have always admired.

But I must ask - what is being said in the left hand side. It looks as though there are words ?
If it is to make the viewer courious --- then you got a home run!
EDIT: [
If the white worded area is an oversite? --- which I doubt considering your skill level --- what is it? ]
End Edit

Toad

Very beautiful - I don't have a problem with this much diffusion. I would lighten the highlight areas a little (middle of forhead, middle of high point on cheeks, tip of nose, chin ...) , the difussion has "muddied" them up, and I also find the light section behind the neck distracting since it no longer "reads" with this much diffusion

Great expression and lighting!

Roger

This woman died the night the photo was taken under unusual circumstances.

I think it is very beautiful. Not too soft at all for me. The features are still very "readable" and the softness sets the mood. The name is certainly appropriate.

I might have removed the white area in the background and instead gone with just a very small amount of background ambient lighting around her in appropriate spots - nothing very uniform.

Also Im a bit worried about my monitor settings. No one else mentioned this, but the image is very dark on my computer. Dark is good for this image, but it is too dark. Maybe Im the only one on a PC?? (mac see things brighter).

I promised to post skill level (read guidlines)... Ive been working in Photoshop for about 7 years... but still have so much to learn. Thanks to everyone for their sharing!

Pam

Thank you...and yes - it is a very dark photo - on some monitors almost unviewable. But dark is how I remember it...and soft...very very soft.

She was French - an artist and sometimes a model for a few. My French was awful - "est ce que vous m'aidez?". We seemed to understand each other though.

For a while...but there were devils that plagued her, and when she was gone - there was a void - and no softness at all.

As the memories fade, I reduce the sharpness on this photo. Soon she will be gone altogether - or just a misty impression - too soft and too black for most monitors...

Beautiful, and truly sad...






I have to add more, due to the rules for the forum -- the softness is part of the essence of this image, and therefore belongs. Technical aspect -- The light area behind her does distract me somewhat.

I know what I like, and I really like this one. The darkness (although not *too* dark) of the image along with the softness sets the mood very nicely. Too bad there was such a sad ending to it.

Ed

Toad,

I like your work and your skill level is awesome! This one for me personally though, is just too soft. I like to see more sharpness and reality. Not saying this has no reality, just that I like to see more. Someone told me that images with a blurr effect like this were called 'wine prints'. I have done a few myself. I especially love the colors in this one, dark and rich, however, the blurr is just too much for me.

Still looking forward to seeing more of your stuff, and I see you have lots of it up here, so I will catch you on the next critique. ;)

~NiteOwl