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Comments
The image does need some lighting work, as you said. I think it is just too dark overall. That darkness is hiding what looks like an excellent image inside. I like the pose with her looking over the glasses. The expression looks appropriate and well done. I do see the "strange appendage" in the lower left that was mentioned by ewcarman.
Is this an Iray image? If so, you might try adjusting the Tone Mapping settings in the Render Settings pane to brighten up the image. I'd start by subtracting 2 from the Exposure Value and go from there. There is also a great tool in the Daz store that makes adjusting Iray lighting much easier. That is Iray Light Manager Pro. It lets you adjust overall lighting while keeping the same balance between individual lights. I've found that useful for scenes where the balance between multiple lights seem OK, but the overall image is too light or too dark.
I'm impressed by what you've put together here, so when you get over the lighting issue, I think you'll be well on your way.
You are off to a good start, @smerf.
Something about this image has really captured my attention. I'm conflicted about whether the subject is a real person or a doll. I think it is the shininess of the hair and the uniformity of the skin that gives me the impression of a doll. But, you know, I kind of like that ambiguity. It has kept me looking at this image far longer than if it had simply been clearly a real person or clearly a plastic doll. I like her expression. She seems to be a little bit startled and caught off guard, but happy to see the person behind the camera.
For a final entry image, you can let it render longer, to get rid of some of the noise in the shadow area of the image.
It is refreshing to see a black and white portrait. I see you've already been working on feedback and making adjustments. I'm curious about your choice of a square aspect ratio. I think it is not a standard "portrait" aspect ratio, and I wonder if you chose that to achieve a particular effect. In a way, the dark left half of the image kind of balances the bright right half of the image. I think that effect is even more pronounced in the "BEFORE" image. So (call me a contrarian!
) other than the overly bright flowers, which you corrected in the "AFTER" image, I think the BEFORE image makes a bigger impact on me. I've come to really appreciate the stronger lighting and dichotomy between the left and right. It all comes down to what YOU the artist is trying to achieve. WE the onlookers will all have different opinions. 
Edit: Oops, I see you have already posted this to the entries thread, which cannot be changed. I apologize for being late with feedback.
@Toyen, the girl, lighting and expression look pretty good to me. A little more render time will clear up the remaining noise. I understand what @evilded777 said about wanting her to look the other direction. I think we feel uncomfortable having her at the edge of the frame, looking out with all the extra space on the left. The fact that her head is about the same size as the background flowers on the wall, makes it difficult to keep focus on her face. The overly bright necklace at the bottom is also drawing my attention away from her face. I think with a little recomposition (perhaps a portrait aspect ratio), this could be a stunner.
I like this. Are you still working on it? The pale skin has kind of it's own style and makes it stand out from the crowd a bit.
I like the way her hair stands out from the background, but overall, it is too dark for my taste. If you are going for a full body shot, I'd adjust the framing a bit so her knee is not cut off on the left side of the image.
@evilded777 mentioned the Bloom filter. It does look as though the Bloom filter might be turned on and making white parts of your image too bright. Check the Filtering tab of the Render Settings pane.
My total render count is less than 10, so I barely know what I'm doing.
But I do like this image. My goal was to bring to life a fictional character, and I think I captured her pretty well.
Newbie here, but I just wanted to say that you are very creative and I really like this render!
@franktuttle, that's a very good start for having rendered only 10 images! That is pretty good skin for a beginner. You are doing well. A little more render time for the final render will get rid of more noise. I prefer the second image where we see more of her body. Even though this is a "portrait" contest, that cropping feels more comfortable to me. Here are some suggestions:
I'm curious - what character and outfit is this? I don't recognize either one.
Thank you @barbult! I'm unsure of what I want to put on the right side of the image, but if nothing then I'll tighten it up.
Regarding his expression, I was trying to go for "I'm a fire mage and this is just what I do." Sort of like he knew nothing else but being a fire mage, and that destruction from fire was just what is expected of him. I do like your recommendation for a dynamic pose, so I will have to rethink his expression.
Ah, I understand. He did have a bit of that "just another day on the job..." look. I see what you were going for.
OK, this is the first concept draft for my second image...
Things I intend to accomplish with this one...
1. Set up my own lights. The last image used the lights from the Barefoot Dancer tutorial, and this one is currently using the lights from the Fiery Genesis tutorial. I've got the basics of simple lighting, but getting colors correct is difficult for me because... Um... Yeah there's that.
2. Gonna go through the throws of converting an HDRI and setting up the UberEnvironment. It's going to be a forest scene.
3. Gotta get that bridge into the Cycles render engine and bake some decent wood textures.
4. I heard somewhere that you can edit overrides on clothing bones. Gotta fix how her dress is hanging.
5. I've got to finish those shoes, with decent textures, and frilly ankle socks.
Now for the bad news. I buy my internet month to month, and the DAZ store beat me up the last couple days. Probably won't be posting frequent updates. Maybe that's good news... Discuss.
Have fun!
EDIT...
Oh! and #6, There's gonna be dragonflies. She likes dragonflies a lot. And she likes chicken, because it tastes like rattle snakes.
Thank you barbult. I have a lot of trouble getting skin and hair to look natural, the character was meant to look like a real person. Will work a bit more on the lighting as the render went for 10,000 samples.
In the mean time I have been playing with this fellow.
It's looking pretty cute already. Are you making your own frilly socks? If not, Dogz has some nice ones in the Daz store with some Mary Janes shoes. I'm not sure if they would fit your character or not.
still working on the lighting on this one, but I am getting closer. I did fix the posing on the hand holding the e-cig.
Thanks for the comments and the tip on tone mapping. My images always seem darker after I post them than what I see in the render library on my computer.
I'll work on the pose/angle/crop to remove the mystery of the appendage.
I had my monthly shopping spree, and got one of the 3du Little Ones. I took a chance, but seeing as how it's a Genesis 3 model I was pretty confident that it would morph and work with other content. That's 65% on the body, 45% on the head, then mixed in 90% of Blaire's head and tweaked the mouth a little. Also got Skyler's poses and expressions. It's actually kind of turn key for making a cute kid.
Going to have to make my own socks. It's the 10th of the month and I'm broke. The shoes were a project for me, and every time I look at them they look like an unfinished project.
Hi this is my first draft for my portrait. It is about 25% render using Iray which took about half an hour on my slow laptop.
Thank you! I'm looking forward to seeing how your Firemage render progresses. You've got a lot of interesting elements there. Ice Dragon Art had some good feedback too.
I have that same issue. My gallery has several examples where I posted an image I thought looked great on my computer. Then you'll see the corrected one with more light right next to it. Maybe it's a Murphy's Law thing were the most glaring issues aren't discovered until you submit your work for public review.
Nah, that's my boy wonder: sidekick, love, spiritual son. And thanks.
I am going to suggest a portrait orientation here, and some serious cropping. Interesting character, but... she is dominated by all the dead space around her. We need to see her, not the empty room she is in.
Convincing use of DOF and the hand looks fine, so check those off.
I love the warmth and the color of the light... but with her expression and her beckkoning hand, she needs a softer light. Swing that spot around so its not casting that harsh shadow on the right of her face and add some fill. Maybe broaden that spotlight as well. I am assuming that's a spotlight...
Good advice. I'd lower the camera, too, so we are more on her level, rather than looking down on her. Thanks for joining the contest. I look forward to seeing your next update here in the WIP thread.
I hadn't even noticed that his pupils and irises might not be seen. Might just be his expression on top of the angle of his head. I'll look when I get a chance.
You can try adjusting the eye up/down controls in Pose Controls in the Parameters pane.
Hopefully final image. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback. Nice to get beyond that "can't figure out what's not right" feeling.
@Wonderland, Be sure to add the list of software you used for your images in your postings in the Entries thread. (Rule 6)
Thanks for the feedback @barbult. I did purposely use the square aspect ratio. I tend to like interesting backgrounds even more than the main subject most of the time so square just gives me more play room. Usually I have to fight from going landscape!! I did really dig the first render. Call me a contrarian as well, but while most people are usually trying to move lights around to soften shadows, I usually try to find ways to do cool stuff with the shadows or two different colored lights on either side (These two examples are my normal style: https://www.daz3d.com/galleryimage/image/142536/tuscany_425_auto.png. and https://www.daz3d.com/galleryimage/image/171866/sheet-music_425_auto.png). As you can see, I love a good left and right disparity as well. But I tend to be way too aggressive with this sometimes. But I also am not an artist. I frankly know nothing about the subject. I just happened to come across Daz by accident one day and fell in love with trying to make cool stuff.