Retouches

anonymouscuban

So I have a house full of kids this weekend. My sister-in-law is visiting with her family. I was a little traumatized so I hid in my office and spent a bit retouching a couple of shots you guys have seen. I will probably include these retouches in my port but first wanted to check to make sure I didn't go overboard in my delirious state.

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divamum

have to say.... too much for me. They look nice (I prefer the one of Jen), but both have a hint of the HDR effect to them... I think I preferred your original edits

anonymouscuban

HDR? Interesting. Will have to look at them again in the morning. I did add a bit of High Pass filter to the top one. That adds sharpness but also adds a bit of local contrast, much like the clarity filter does in LR. Maybe I went a little too heavy. They don't look bad to me right now but I've also been staring at my puter screen all night.

anonymouscuban

Here is one more. Would you clean up the frizzies? I didn't only because her hair is quite curly so not sure if it's distracting. Doesn't bother me too much but if it will look more polished, then I will do it.

Hackbone

First and third seem hot to me on the highlights. Grab some color from his face and paint the hand some to tone it down. The third one is hot and the chest skin really draws you eye due to brightness.

Dreadnote

I think I know what Diva is talking about. Perhaps you could mask the high pass layer with a tiny brush right where the right side of his face meets the gray background and on the other side where the back of his neck transitions to gray. The high pass filter at the transition is creating an artificial looking contrast that could be taken for HDR halo-ing (is that even a word) anyway I'm sure you will see the difference when you get a chance to play with it. I had the same issue on a few that I did.

Lightsearcher

Very nice poses, backgrounds and colors but on my calibrated monitor the highlights are too strong on their faces.

Regards.

Marcelo