My First Post

Dancer72

This is a shot that I took of my son playing out in the backyard, just a fleeting look...probably dreaming about flying in a plane or a rocket knowing him...but since it only lasted a moment, I feel VERY lucky to have captured it. I've just recently started to get more serious about photography and am trying to hone my skills, so all C&C welcome!

EDIT: Added edited version

Thanks!
Caroline



Edited version of photo:

PhotosbyKW

Hey, I like it. Welcome aboard.

Photosbychuck

Welcome to dgrin Caroline & I love the boken in this shot.



Take Care,
Charles,

Hackbone

Great shot of you child. The photo needs more contrast, looks a bit muddy.(too much gray)

Dancer72

Hackbone wrote:

Great shot of you child. The photo needs more contrast, looks a bit muddy.(too much gray)

Thanks for the feedback PhotosbyKW, Charles & Hackbone...much appreciated!

Hackbone - I am new to the fine tuning of b&w...any pointers on how to get rid of the muddy look, or is it just trial & error when adjusting the color levels. Would appreciate any advice you might have.

Richard

Dancer72 wrote:

Thanks for the feedback PhotosbyKW, Charles & Hackbone...much appreciated!

Hackbone - I am new to the fine tuning of b&w...any pointers on how to get rid of the muddy look, or is it just trial & error when adjusting the color levels. Would appreciate any advice you might have.

Not sure what software you are using, but the first thing you need to do is set proper white and black points. That will increase the contrast considerably. In Photoshop, you could also fine tune it with curves and there are other more advanced techniques as well. If you are using Lightroom, you could increase the brightness and clarity, raise the blacks and change the tone curve.

I like the dreamy expression. Nice capture.

Dancer72

Richard wrote:

Not sure what software you are using, but the first thing you need to do is set proper white and black points. That will increase the contrast considerably. In Photoshop, you could also fine tune it with curves and there are other more advanced techniques as well. If you are using Lightroom, you could increase the brightness and clarity, raise the blacks and change the tone curve.

I like the dreamy expression. Nice capture.

Richard:

Thanks so much for the tips..I am using Photoshop so will definitely go back in and do as you say about setting the proper b&w points as well as playing with the curves, then post a revised shot.

I appreciate the help!
Caroline

Hackbone

Richard beat me to it. His advice is excellent. Go to your levels, then find the box that says Input levels. Take the small triangle on the left and move it to the right 5 to 10 points. Digital photography tends to be flat as a general statement and raising the black point is accepted as the first step in correcting this.

Just a very quick black point plus the right triangle and then a contrast with brightness added.

[img][/img]

MissB

I lmiove capturing moments like that.. they are so fleeting you are lucky to have captured it. I used to mess with the RBG in the photos to get the muddy out... but now i use "gradiant map" to convert my images to B&w.. if it needs more punch then i increase the dark levels. welcome aboard!!!

Dancer72

Hackbone wrote:

Richard beat me to it. His advice is excellent. Go to your levels, then find the box that says Input levels. Take the small triangle on the left and move it to the right 5 to 10 points. Digital photography tends to be flat as a general statement and raising the black point is accepted as the first step in correcting this.

Just a very quick black point plus the right triangle and then a contrast with brightness added.

[img][/img]

Charles:

Thanks so much for the tips and the sample for comparison when I go back in and redo the photo...I REALLY appreciate the help!

Will repost the image once I make adjustments for you to look at & comment.

Thanks again,

Dancer72

MissB wrote:

I lmiove capturing moments like that.. they are so fleeting you are lucky to have captured it. I used to mess with the RBG in the photos to get the muddy out... but now i use "gradiant map" to convert my images to B&w.. if it needs more punch then i increase the dark levels. welcome aboard!!!

Miss B:

Will give this option a try on adjusting the b&w as well to try and eliminate the muddy effect. Thanks for taking the time to comment; I appreciate all feedback.

and Thanks for the warm welcome!

Dancer72

Added edited version of shot (side by side with the original post for comparison). Again C&C most welcome.

Thank you all for your advice & tips!

Richard

Dancer72 wrote:

Added edited version of shot (side by side with the original post for comparison). Again C&C most welcome.

Thank you all for your advice & tips!

Big improvement.

ivar

Dancer72 wrote:

This is a shot that I took of my son playing out in the backyard, just a fleeting look...probably dreaming about flying in a plane or a rocket knowing him...

The funny thing is, I have a very similar shot somewhere of myself. And I was probably dreaming about the same things. Tell him those dreams can turn reality, they did for me.

Richard wrote:

Big improvement.

The original does look a bit flat and slightly underexposed, but the edit is much nicer. The focus seems slightly off (just a tad, his right shoulder seems a bit more in focus instead of his face), but it's not bothering me, really. If you wanted you could slightly blur the right side of his shirt a bit. Not sure if it is worth the effort, though. It really is a nice capture.

Dancer72

Richard wrote:

Big improvement.

Thanks for the kind words...means alot coming from u!

Also, thanks again for your guidance; it helped quite a bit as I reprocessed, and reprocessed to loose the muddy look. Will keep your advice in mind for future b&w shots.

Dancer72

ivar wrote:

The funny thing is, I have a very similar shot somewhere of myself. And I was probably dreaming about the same things. Tell him those dreams can turn reality, they did for me.



The original does look a bit flat and slightly underexposed, but the edit is much nicer. The focus seems slightly off (just a tad, his right shoulder seems a bit more in focus instead of his face), but it's not bothering me, really. If you wanted you could slightly blur the right side of his shirt a bit. Not sure if it is worth the effort, though. It really is a nice capture.

Ivar:

I'll give that a try on the shoulder blur to see how it makes a difference in focusing on his face. Starting to really see major effects when inadvertently shifting the focal point, even slightly, when shooting in RAW...Plus I can ALWAYS use the postprocessing practice!

Thanks for taking the time to look & comment.