Why does this composite look fake?

[lokki]

Oh - another solution would be to leave the head as it is in the revision and move the rest of the body into darker shadow, then 'force' a little perspective into it as if the lens were wider (e.g., shrink the lower part of the body). That will let you get away with the current overall lighting, but you'll still need to do some dodge/burn to bring more depth into the face.

[Anthony Wood]

I've been following this thread and wondering why it's so seemingly difficult to get this right. I don't agree that it looks OK but as someone suggested maybe that's because you pointed me to the problem. Anyway ...maybe there isn't a technical solution.

When I look at the original shot from where you got head (the shot at the desk) it looks just a little fake. Maybe "fake" is too harsh a term, but there is to me just a hint of unnaturalness about the smile and the head placement. It reminds me a little of the catwalk shots where it seems any actress over 25 has been trained to push their chin forward to stretch out the neck. Just a little forced and a little unrelaxed.

Now when I look at the shot you are trying to fix (where he is laughing with his eyes closed and throwing his head back) he looks very relaxed, and natural. His body language, however subtle, is totally congruent with this. Here he looks like someone I'd enjoy going for a beer with. Now I'm not suggesting this is an appropriate shot to deliver to the client. I'm just wondering if this is the root cause of the problem and that this may prove to be unphotoshopable.

Another thought...is it that the hand gesture doesn't work with the facial expression?

[dhp]

this is a huge improvement as far as the lighting goes & i think for most viewers that will be the main factor in convincing them of 'realism' so it's kind of, objective achieved ...

however, if i was the guy in the shot i may now feel as though i had a slight 'turtle neck' situation where the head seems thrust forward - if i was going to do any more work on this that would be the only area i'd look at as you could spend a long time on small lighting details for little improvement or just fix the slight turtle neck, then it's ready to be sent out

i think it may just be a question of introducing a slight suggestion of a twist (with a bit of dodge & burn) in the left neck muscle (his right) - i'm smiling as i write this & realise how ridiculously miniscule these details seem to anybody who doesn't sweat the small stuff :-))
but i would say just look in the mirror & you'll see what i mean about the contours of the neck muscles changing slightly as you turn your body away but keep the head square

be interesting to see if you take any of the recent suggestions here or just send it out as close enough, as there's always that balance between infinite time & right enough for a deadline...?

[Ruzzez]

I think the revisions make it look real, however I think the shot with the desk makes a better portrait. The shot on the white background appears a little haphazard.