Advice after the fact please

SeascapeS

I really struggled with which shot to enter this time. I went back and forth and second guessed myself way too many times and just decided to go with my gut. Bad choice.

Okay, so help me out here and tell me which of these you prefer:


This is the one I entered. I know it needed more contrast, but to do that, I exposed a flaw that I couldn't fix.




This was my second choice - more fun, but didn't portray the "she's all that" image. Also, my husband commented that it looked like she was peeing in the bag, so that stuck in my head.



And last, one with color. I LOVED the color of the dress, but couldn't get past the fact that the chip bag clashed with the dress color.

TLVoDra

I really liked your image just the way it was entered. Your choice of cliche really cracked me up. I haven't heard that since I lived in Kentucky. My friends in MN struggled with the cliche. OH, I have to agree with your husband about the 2nd image. Glad you didn't enter that one. : )

pyroPrints.com

for future reference: look up the adjustment layer called selective color, to fix up large pieces of color like that. i use it all the time and it's amazingly useful

SeascapeS

I do use selective color, but just couldn't get it to the color I wanted. Maybe I should have changed the dress to match the bag? Would have been easier!

photosbyjd2

its a cool concept... here in so cal its a term used a little bit. i was messing around with the shot and couldnt find your "flaw" that you spoke about. I bumped the exp. down and brought the blacks up a few notches. I feel this way the dress popped out a bit more.

photosbyjd2

nm... i see it... your talking about the spot on the right top side of the bag of chips right?

SeascapeS

Yes, that is much better and I would have preferred that.

The flaw was actually on the underside of her raised arm. I took out the entire background and while doing that, I could not get her arm to look smooth in that area. Funny how I could do the rest of it, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get that black outline out....just didn't have the coordination. Bumping up the contrast made it stand out way too much.

I also wasn't too happy about the reflection on the top of the bag. I got it to look good on the other BW shot, but not this one.

photosbyjd2

it shows that u used a flash... was it the built in pop up?

SeascapeS

Oh no - I never use the built in. I either use no flash or the SB-600. The area where we were was a bit dark, so I did use the flash.

photosbyjd2

did u use a defuser or "bounce" the flash?

SeascapeS

Yes, I did use a diffuser.

photosbyjd2

WOW wht set up do you shoot with? Im sure you could have reduced the flash comp. and that may have helped. I shoot with a stock nikon D60 kit lens, and use "the puffer" difuser for built in flash. Here are some shots i did the other night in a really dark bar of a live band, all I did was put my flash to -3.0 so it wouldn't washout parts of the pics even with the difuser

SeascapeS

Lighting is something I'm still working on. I did have it set to -3.0. My problem was that it was a very sunny day but we were shooting in shade. The sun was still reflecting though which was part of the reason I took out the background....too many sunny hot spots. It was a weird combination of shade and sunlight.

photosbyjd2

do you have the raw unedited shot?

SeascapeS

Yes. I guess the sun spots weren't too bad in this shot, but there was a lot of ugly background.



This is what I had going on that day:

photosbyjd2

1. try up against a wall! would have worked better (no busy background) and the outfit would have "pop'd" out more.What i mean is look at the dress against the wall, it stands out mor then when green grass and tress are against it.


2. Holy cow omg shes hott.

SeascapeS

I didn't have a wall available. I created one in the other shots above. All fabrication, my friend.

Anyway, my original question was, would I have had a better shot at finals if I'd used one of the other two shots or had more contrast in the one I entered? May be a question for the judges, but I'd like to hear any opinions.

BTW - She's my daughter. Her personality is just as great. Thank you!

lkbart

I think the lack of contrast made the photo look kinda boring. The pose & facial expression is right on. I really like the extra contrast photosbyjd2 added - maybe even more gold tones in the background would've given it more sparkle.

My daughter is my muse too! Looks like you had a good time taking the photos with yours - & that makes it priceless!

SeascapeS

Darn - I'm upset with myself. I put so much time into that and I knew it needed more contrast. It was washed out....

Thanks!