Opinions Please!

PedalGirl · February 22, 2013

I took this shot at my soon to be son in law's brother's wedding. Yes, I know that's a mouth full. There was a light fixture top middle that was horrible, I got it out but at the time was not able to get the ugly light out with it. So, I used a plug in and "stylized" the photo so that it didn't seem so bad. The boys' mom loved the photo (me not so much). Now it's her birthday and my daughter and her fiance are going to get it printed on canvas for her gift. So, I re-edited the photo since I know so much more now than I did then. The Mom and my daughter STILL LIKE THE OLD VERSION BETTER! My thoughts are that I can't believe I ever even showed that photo in public! So, I bet my dear daughter that if I put these out on the forums for other photographers to see that they would agree with me. (no pressure) So... in all honesty... which is better???

1. Original Edit

2. New and Improved photo

unique93 · February 22, 2013

1. photo is better to me, because I don't love PS blur...but colors are way better on 2. photo

anonymouscuban · February 22, 2013

I prefer the 2nd edit of the two.

Ridgetop · February 22, 2013

I'm guessing they are attracted to the nostalgic feel of #1. I don't like the halo over his head, but otherwise I think it will print pretty well on canvas. The color overall is better on #2, but I was almost immediately put off by the yellow behind the center individual. Probably just a personal thing, but I think it draws from the individuals in the pic.

Dreadnote · February 22, 2013

I'm a little confused by the photo labels...Are you saying that the photo started of as bleached and that the plugin colorized it? Or is the second photo the original? Or are both of these edits? Is the SOOC available?

PedalGirl · February 22, 2013

Dreadnote wrote: »

I'm a little confused by the photo labels...Are you saying that the photo started of as bleached and that the plugin colorized it? Or is the second photo the original? Or are both of these edits? Is the SOOC available?

Both are edits. So, first edit and the new edit.

anonymouscuban · February 22, 2013

BTW, the mom loved it because she's not a photographer and it seems that the average person, for reasons I quite don't understand, love any photo that has been run through a plugin. It's why you see so many Plug-tographers on craigslist and Facebook that people rave about. HAHA... Plug-tographers. I like that.

PedalGirl · February 22, 2013

Ridgetop wrote: »

I'm guessing they are attracted to the nostalgic feel of #1. I don't like the halo over his head, but otherwise I think it will print pretty well on canvas. The color overall is better on #2, but I was almost immediately put off by the yellow behind the center individual. Probably just a personal thing, but I think it draws from the individuals in the pic.

Yep, she said that it felt "timeless" ... so I think she likes the semi black and white thing. Of course all I can see is the halo, the funny spots on the faces, the total lack of detail in the clothing and the ugly door of the hotel room behind them.

anonymouscuban wrote: »

BTW, the mom loved it because she's not a photographer and it seems that the average person, for reasons I quite don't understand, love any photo that has been run through a plugin. It's why you see so many Plug-tographers on craigslist and Facebook that people rave about. HAHA... Plug-tographers. I like that.

Ha ha ha... that should become an official term!

Dreadnote · February 22, 2013

Well if these are the only two choices, then I think I like the first one the best. The second makes their shirts look a bit dingy for whatever that is worth. Though as has been commented on, I'm not in love with the halo over the head of the center individual either, however that same halo is in the second one as well just less noticeable.

PedalGirl · February 22, 2013

So I'm working on trying to keep some of the feel of the first one with what I like about the 2nd. Something along these lines...

Sam · February 23, 2013

I like your last edit the best but would take the yellow out. This will give the look and feel that mom likes along with a better processed image.

Remember the photo is for mom. print what she likes.

Sam

slpollett · February 23, 2013

I like the first one, really dislike second one (borderline hate it), and the last one is in the middle. I do not like that yellow around the middle guy's head. That yellow kills the shot for me. The first one is best because the yellow is minimized. That is probably what draws the Mom and your daughter in.

Sherry

PedalGirl · February 23, 2013

Thanks everyone, you really helped.

My daughter stopped by last night and she sat with me as I pulled this back into Topaz B/W 2 and we came up with the version below that she really liked so that's what we burned to a CD for her to print. Then she asked if we were gonna go through this when I take her engagement shots.

I explained to her that when I do her engagement shots that they won't be crappy like that from the start. AND that like what would happen with any "non mom" photographer, I'm going to edit them the way I think they are the very best and that's what she'll see and that's it. Luckily for me, I've learned ALOT, since I took these shot's at Kevin's wedding.

BrettDeutsch · February 23, 2013

I'm curious why you think other photographers' opinions matter more than your client's? She, not us, is the one who is going to hang your photo on her wall (which is a nice compliment, IMO).

PedalGirl · February 23, 2013

BrettDeutsch wrote: »

I'm curious why you think other photographers' opinions matter more than your client's? She, not us, is the one who is going to hang your photo on her wall (which is a nice compliment, IMO).

Normally I wouldn't. But, for the most part with professional photographers...as bad as the photo was to begin with, the customer would most likely have never seen that first photo. As a mom... I can see where she would not see all the problems with that first shot, she just sees that those are my 3 boys all together in one place, etc. I, as a photographer just look at that first shot now and think ewww! She's gonna put that on her wall and somewhere down the line see how yucky the stuff is in the background, that Kevin's head looks like it's on fire and that the other two boys have funky spots on their foreheads. Plus, someone is going to walk in and see that (IMO) yucky photo and ask who took it... which is when my name will come up. Not that I consider that a huge deal... I just wanted her to have the best "version" of this photo that I can make, taking into consideration the overall feel that she liked to begin with. I think that got accomplished in the last photo. Had I known then what I do now, that photo would have been much better to begin with or it would have never seen the light of day.

VayCayMom · February 23, 2013

2 is the best and then the last version.

Patti · February 23, 2013

Last edit for me. How does it look in straight B&W?

PedalGirl · February 23, 2013

Here is a straight b&w ... I quite like it this way. But, the others liked a little of the color left and the toning.

Patti · February 23, 2013

PedalGirl wrote: »

Here is a straight b&w ... I quite like it this way. But, the others liked a little of the color left and the toning.

That's more like it. Straightforward with no weird colour in the background. The men pop.

jonh68 · February 25, 2013

I like the 1st minus the halo. If the picture suffers from technical difficulties to begin with, no sense in trying to repair it. Go with it in the other direction. I think the vignetting adds to the pic.

Dooginfif20 · February 25, 2013

Id like to see the actual picture before the edits. They all seem a tad soft to me.

PedalGirl · February 25, 2013

This is the original SOOC. And, yes you are right. My shutter speed on this was a little on the low side for hand-holding. Like I said before, I know so much more now than I did at the time. I wasn't taking pictures in any official capcity and really wasn't even planning on being there at all. I took some shots while I was there and shared them with the family and they went gaga over this shot. Wish I could go back and redo being a bit more careful with what I was doing. I was really just learning the new camera at the time.

The%20Boys%203%20%281%20of%201%29-2-L.jpg

RyanS · February 28, 2013

Since everyone has said their $.02, here is mine. I think you're over-thinking this shot. Just give it a little boost, a little contrast, warm it up a bit, even out the skin tone a tad, give a little vignette, done. This shot is a 60 second edit. Move to the next shot. As you pointed out, photographs have emotional weight independent of what we see. The client's happiness is all that matters. Often they are happy with a lot less. The right approach is to deliver the minimum viable product. The customer isn't going to lift the bun on the hamburger to see if you equally spaced the pickles. Why, then, do we waste a lot of energy making sure the pickles are perfect? Invest that time in marketing, training, financial management, etc. You're time is, quite frankly, way too valuable to be fussing too much with a shot you know the client will love regardless of your perfect editing. That is all that matters, supremely satisfied customers.

Here is what I saw:

And a simple B&W version to solve the WB issues:

(Please let me know if you don't want these edits up and I'll take them down. I only posted them for illustrative purposes.)

Opinions Please!

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