Candid Child Photo: Comments, Suggestions...

plestig

Meagan has the greatest smile in this photo, but the lighting is very harsh. Any recommendations on how to correct if possible?
http://lestig.smugmug.com/photos/234178230-M-2.jpg
Happy Holidays!

LittleLew

link doesn't work

plestig

Hmmm, that's odd it works for me. Try this one:
http://lestig.smugmug.com/gallery/4018709#234178230-A-LB

LittleLew

nope, sorry
getting a green 'loading' message at top but nothing else

schmoo

plestig do you have external linking turned on?

I see the photo when I visit the gallery but not otherwise.

plestig

Yep, I sure had it turned off. I've turned it on now. Thanks! Please let me know if that works now. Sorry!

System

plestig-

may I show you what I've done?-

plestig

Yes, please do. I would love help on this one. I'm still learning.

System

if you don't care, I'll post your original and then what I was able to do-

if you like it, please say that's great; if you don't like it, don't say anything and I'll go my merry way-

sorry; I'm starting to babble-

damn pills-

System

your original photo:

System

put them on same post so that they would be easier to compare-

plestig

I like it! Did you use a dragonizer on it?

System

plestig wrote:

I like it! Did you use a dragonizer on it?

a whatonizer on it?-

plestig

haha, Dragonizer is an action that I found on PhotoShop. What did you use to adjust the photo? It looks great! Thank you.

joshhuntnm

Great pic. here is my take on it


and the original


here is what i did

levels--make the blacks black
sharpen a bit
crop
warm the color (I use elements' adjust to skin tone)
create an oval/ feather it/ inverse the selection/ blur

There is still a little grainineness in the cheek, which I struggled to pull out at this resolution. I think the median filter would do it if you were working with the original.

again great pic!

System

joshhuntnm wrote:

Great pic. here is my take on it


here is what i did

levels--make the blacks black
sharpen a bit
crop
warm the color (I use elements' adjust to skin tone)
create an oval/ feather it/ inverse the selection/ blur

There is still a little grainineness in the cheek, which I struggled to pull out at this resolution. I think the median filter would do it if you were working with the original.



again great pic!

nice josh-

a lot simpler than my steps-

do you have burn in elements?-

burn the face and neck just a tad?-

joshhuntnm

Good idea. I experimented but at this resolution it came outa bit choppy. Also, it needed to be done before the color corection as the burn ends up grey by comparison. The highlights are pretty hot in those areas.

System

joshhuntnm wrote:

Good idea. I experimented but at this resolution it came outa bit choppy. Also, it needed to be done before the color corection as the burn ends up grey by comparison. The highlights are pretty hot in those areas.

well, the main thing was to give the girl more color and to separate her from the background-

and you achieved that-

it's almost always true that the better of a shot that you take on the front end means less you have to do on the back end, but it sure is neat to turn an ok photo into a nice one!

plestig

I know this photo is a little out of focus since she was running & playing at the time, but my friend absolutely loved her little girl's smile. So I'm trying to correct on the backend unfortunately. I've done a couple additional iterations of this.

http://lestig.smugmug.com/gallery/4025471#235143730-X2-LB
http://lestig.smugmug.com/gallery/4025471#235814047-XL-LB

joshhuntnm

plestig wrote:

I know this photo is a little out of focus since she was running & playing at the time, but my friend absolutely loved her little girl's smile. So I'm trying to correct on the backend unfortunately. I've done a couple additional iterations of this.

http://lestig.smugmug.com/gallery/4025471#235143730-X2-LB
http://lestig.smugmug.com/gallery/4025471#235936966-X2-LB

The girl is so cute it is hard to mess up. I especially like the last one where the background drops to black and white.

plestig

Thanks. I thought I'd take a previous recommendation to make her stand out from the backround more. I like the contrast much more.

plestig

gefillmore - could you please let me know what steps you took on your rendition of this photo? You made her look so crisp! I wish I would've gotten a better shot of this. Thank you!!