Skin Tone

[surrealism]

Skin Tone

[phschallenger]

Hi All,

I am having trouble deciding which skin tone looks best for my model Melissa. Whilst the warm (red) skin tone below looks more real and is a better representation of actual skin colour, I really like the cool (green) skin tone below - IMO it has a different (more professional/magazine?) look to it.

Anyhow, I would love to hear some opinions on which skin tone other (more experienced/skilled/creative) photographers prefer. Here they are:

Cool/Green:




Warm/Red:




Thanks guys and God bless.

James

definetly the second one. the colors are much richer.

[czsz]

the first; it does seem more "professional".

[jc5066]

Niether.
The pose is better on the first. Who ever saw a green person? The second is too warm. Need to find a happy median.

[clickaway]

The second, red one looks a lot lot better. However, I think its a shame how you have positioned her in relation to the tree behind. The photo would look a lot better had it not interfered with her face and been out of the frame altogether.

Ray

[pse]

I like the second one the most..

[artandrevolution]

I also like the 2nd one the most but i also think improvements can be made in either shots begining with the tree in the background. As far as the 1st image goes...too green. for "professsional' images i know what you mean but they mostly tend to be on the Cyan/blue scale where your image is just straight up green...it looks like a digital alteration to me.(im also a film geek so dont mind me). The 2nd image is certainly an improvement as far as the model goes(less twist in the mid area body and the mouth is not as strained,it looks bunchy). My advice would be to reshoot it if you can and think about the background area(the tree and the wire intersecting her head were the 1st things i noticed when looking).
If you want to play with the tones try filters or try and place the cooler tones where appropriate. if they seem to be just random tonal changes then they wont be as eye popping or have as mush meaning behind it. for instance, fool around with color contrast..the 1st image the background is green and so is the model. in the 2nd photo the background is green but the model is warmer toned..it creates a sense of depth in the photo, where as previously they just mesh together and create less interest. experiment with backgrounds that have different tonal/color ranges and contrasts. just keep color theory in mind because it can work even in basic model shots.
just my personal opinion an all.
-a

[bobt54]

#2. Not only is it warmer than the first but it is also sharper.

[luckytrev]

No. 2 - But what do I know.

[matiasasun]

I`m just one of those guys -like most- that love a good omposition of warm colors. But I like the first one. I did a check on the whole gallery (Here) and I think the first one has more potential. The girls eyes contasrted with the pure black hair might have looked great on those green shades (or not).

[ukexpat]

Like some of the others, I find #1 a tad too "cold" and #2 a tad too "warm". Somewhere in the middle would probably be better...

[surrealism]

Thanks all for your constructive criticism.

I had a feeling that the optimal skin tone lied somewhere in the middle.

Ahh the joys of photoshop levels....!

James