Please critique Beauty/glam!

[JD Spears]

OK, so I lied. It's actually my father-in-law. Original concept was, I wanted to emphasize his aging hands but, that's alright cause I enjoy playing around and see where it takes me. Would appreciate any tips or suggestions but particularly interested in making it look a little more believable.
Thank you

[Richard Quindry]

I like it. Nice job. The only thing that I think I would change is removing a couple of reflections near the two smallest fingers on his right hand. I know that they are natural, but in my opinion, they aren't necessary and distract from his right hand. A little artistic licence.

[Frank Lopes]

I know I'm being very picky, but here it goes:

I loved it but I would try to enhance slightly the glint in his left eye.

Originally Posted by JD Spears

OK, so I lied. It's actually my father-in-law. Original concept was, I wanted to emphasize his aging hands but, that's alright cause I enjoy playing around and see where it takes me. Would appreciate any tips or suggestions but particularly interested in making it look a little more believable.
Thank you

[bazza64]

Hi JD,

I like the effect, I'm like you I like to tinker around with photo's like this one with a lot of character in them and see what I finish up with.

The only thing I would suggest is to blur the background just a touch more, and I think his hands look a bit to "bronzey" cut back on the opacity in the layer a bit and see what happens, otherwise a good effect.

Barry.

[JD Spears]

Originally Posted by Richard Quindry

I like it. Nice job. The only thing that I think I would change is removing a couple of reflections near the two smallest fingers on his right hand. I know that they are natural, but in my opinion, they aren't necessary and distract from his right hand. A little artistic licence.

Thanks Richard! Hard to tell at these sizes but thats actually, the screw that holds the pick guard on. Your right though, I don't mind telling a lie as long as it's somewhat convincing.

[JD Spears]

Originally Posted by Frank Lopes

I know I'm being very picky, but here it goes:

I loved it but I would try to enhance slightly the glint in his left eye.

Thanks Frank!
No your not being picky. Had some problems with that eye and will give it another whirl and post after.

[Richard Quindry]

I think you're right - that is probably a screw for the one reflection. I'd also take away the one just off of his fingertip on his next to smallest finger on his right hand. I find it takes attention away from the hand.

[JD Spears]

Originally Posted by bazza64

Hi JD,

I like the effect, I'm like you I like to tinker around with photo's like this one with a lot of character in them and see what I finish up with.

The only thing I would suggest is to blur the background just a touch more, and I think his hands look a bit to "bronzey" cut back on the opacity in the layer a bit and see what happens, otherwise a good effect.

Barry.

Thanks Barry!
I gave myself a big V8 slap on the forehead over the BG. Thank you for pointing that out. As for the hands; I had done some additional aging with BD and liquidfy so I wouldn't be able too just blend the layers, but will try color and contrast. Will repost results.

[TommyO]

Pretty darn good JD ! It's nice to see some of your work.
I can't think of anything not already mentioned.
I think your father-in-law would be proud to hang it once you print it poster size and frame it for him !

[JD Spears]

Thanks Tommy!
Actually, his biggest concern was the same as when we shot it. "You just don't hold a mandolin that high up". He wasn't quite understanding that it was for the aesthetics of the shot.

[JD Spears]

Thank you guys very much! I feel like y'all help me out a lot. I at least tried everybody's advice. I slightly blurred the BG, more work on the left eye, worked on the tone and color of the hands (better, worse?) Also took out both screws and took out light reflection at finger tip. It seemed a little void so I added subtle reflection of fingers. In the end decided to put it back in and still left in homemade reflections. Anyway, I appreciate your help. If there are any more comments or suggestion I'd love to hear them.
Thanks, JD

[bazza64]

Hello again JD,
It looks excellent, I forgot to mention last time that I like the whole ambience of the photo, especially the microphone I think that it is a very clever touch.

I Think your father in-law would be very happy with the results.

Just one question JD, your father in-law has got such a lot of character in his face and hands, it's the type of photo I love working on to create those special looks like you've done, I was wandering if you would mind if I posted a photo of him that i've been working on to see what you thought of it (I meant no offence by doing that, it is such a brilliant photo to work on).

Barry.

[JD Spears]

Originally Posted by bazza64

Hello again JD,
It looks excellent, I forgot to mention last time that I like the whole ambience of the photo, especially the microphone I think that it is a very clever touch.

I Think your father in-law would be very happy with the results.

Just one question JD, your father in-law has got such a lot of character in his face and hands, it's the type of photo I love working on to create those special looks like you've done, I was wandering if you would mind if I posted a photo of him that i've been working on to see what you thought of it (I meant no offence by doing that, it is such a brilliant photo to work on).

Barry.

Barry,
Thank you for the complement. Yeah, young girls are fun to look at, but sometime it's nice to have a change of pace. Actually, I don't want it to become public domain so if you could limit the post to just here at retouchpro I'd love to see your take on it.

[bazza64]

Thanks for that JD,

I promise I will just post to RetouchPro.

Here are two photo's that I worked on with two different effects, I didn't worry about the background to much as I just wanted to highlight the character in your father in-laws face and hands.

Let me know what you think,

Barry.

[JD Spears]

Originally Posted by bazza64

Thanks for that JD,

I promise I will just post to RetouchPro.

Here are two photo's that I worked on with two different effects, I didn't worry about the background to much as I just wanted to highlight the character in your father in-laws face and hands.

Let me know what you think,

Barry.

Barry,
Actually, on my monitor both your versions seem extremely dark and contrasty. It is probably due to a big difference in our monitor calibration.

[bazza64]

You could be right JD.
My monitor is calibrated for...
6500 Kelvins
gamma 2.2
CS3 set to Adobe RGB 1998 color profile.
Video card -Adobe RGB 1998.
I will check it again though.

Barry.