What's missing?....

craftgirl

I cant put my finger on it but I feel like it could be better.....I like the sepia and I have included the original color version...Any suggestions?]

Richard

craftgirl wrote:

I cant put my finger on it but I feel like it could be better.....I like the sepia and I have included the original color version...Any suggestions?]

I get the same feeling. Maybe there's better background separation in the color version? Have you tried just bringing out the color in the original and letting it go at that?

Scott_Quier

I think I would either apply a vignette or burn the bright spots above the child's head - it's quite a distractor. And, maybe the same thing to the bright area behind the chain. Aside from that, I don't see anything I would change.

BTW - the sepia is MUCH better than the color - IMO. I think it turns the picture into a real photograph - if you understand what I'm trying to say.

craftgirl

Scott_Quier wrote:

I think I would either apply a vignette or burn the bright spots above the child's head - it's quite a distractor. And, maybe the same thing to the bright area behind the chain. Aside from that, I don't see anything I would change.

BTW - the sepia is MUCH better than the color - IMO. I think it turns the picture into a real photograph - if you understand what I'm trying to say.

Scott, I am pickin' up what your puttin' down. I thought the same thing about the sepia....I posted it up at POTN too, i was desparate for input. Someone there toned down the yellow a bit and brought up the pink and it made a huge difference....I will save it and see if I can bring it over here for a reference.

Ive never been to crazy about vignetting and dont know how to do it anyway...lol....I would love to see what you would do if you have a minute...if not i understand...

mr peas

I think you may be putting too much effort into this photograph, I say just leave it monochrome and call it quits. The expression is great, the framing is nice, also it has a nice dof. Its already a good photograph, I would worry less on working on it more because people tend to overphotoshop their images sometimes, I would focus more on taking even more photographs!

craftgirl

Richard,
I did play with the contrast a bit in the color one, but chose the sepia over it still.....I will play with it some more and see what you think..

craftgirl

mr peas wrote:

I think you may be putting too much effort into this photograph, I say just leave it monochrome and call it quits. The expression is great, the framing is nice, also it has a nice dof. Its already a good photograph, I would worry less on working on it more because people tend to overphotoshop their images sometimes, I would focus more on taking even more photographs!

You are my new best friend! lol. Really this is my first real attempt at doing something different with the colors in a photograph. I tend to agree with you on most occaisions. I hit upon the sepia by accident and when I saw it I loved it so I figured why not find out how to make it right...I am happy to hear you say the most important aspects of photography are there! There is hope for me yet....lol Thanks a bunch!

craftgirl

Here is what MelissandKris over a POTN did for me....I rather like it....

Scott_Quier

craftgirl wrote:

Ive never been to crazy about vignetting and dont know how to do it anyway...lol....I would love to see what you would do if you have a minute...if not i understand...

I'll give it whack in the morning when I'm on my work machine - don't have editing s/w on this 8yr old laptop...:D

craftgirl

Looking forward to seeing what you do!

ladytx

Hope you don't mind that I played with your picture. Don't want to step on any toes, I just like to play. The processing seemed a little harsh to me so I toned it down but still trying to stay within the sepia coloring. I lightened up her eyes so I could see them sparkle. This is more to my personal liking but may not be what you are trying to achieve with your pretty picture. She has a beautiful smile and you got a great capture of her no matter the processing. Good job!!

LittleLew

Another example of my favorite thesis - 4 x 6 isn't a good aspect ratio for portraits.

I think this crop is tighter and better.

joshhuntnm

You mind if I take a crack at it?

just a bit of warmth, levels, cropped and sharpened

PhotoTarzan

Another..
Hi! So I'm new around here and just diving in.
I agree about the crop. Also, levels, sat, sharpen, etc...



Always more fun to PS somebody else's stuff.

ifocus

In my opinion, the color or post processing is not a problem. The kid's expression is great. The issue is the chain close to his face. The chain takes space and cold; the versions where the chain is dark and less noticeable are greats. Just my 2 cents.

craftgirl

Wow, guys! I love the different takes on just one shot. I wish she would grow some dang hair though...lol It's okay Ifocus, you aren't the only one who has thought she was a boy.

Everyone has done a great job from different angles...I totally agree on the cropping. I really like the tighter crop. So far my favorite rendition is Ladytx's....Thanks to you all for taking the time to make my little girl just plain adorable!

Keep on going! This is fun. I had a mini shoot today with all three of my kids....I think I will start a new thread......:)

Scott_Quier

Processing. I thought about it a bit and decided the color treatment was a little much. So, I "merged" the two versions, reducing the opacity of the color treated version a touch to let some of original color come through.

The vignette is easy to create:

• Select the Lasso tool, set the feathering to a value suited to the size of the photo. Here, I used 50 pixels. On a full sized image SOOC, I would use as much feathering as available (250).
• Draw a rough circle around the area of interest. Here, it's obviously the child's face and hands. Incluede all that in the selection.
• Invert the selection On a PC it's Ctrl-Shift-I. If you're on a Mac, you're on your own.
• Invoke the Levels dialog (on PC, CTRL-L) and move the midpoint slider to the right until you like what you see.

Here's the vignetted version:

Scott_Quier

And, as has been noted above, the cropping is a good idea that I probably would have gotten around to on my own. IMO, there's no need for a vignette here as the child is very well framed by the darker background above, the chain on the right, the image edge on the left, and the swing on the bottom.

joshhuntnm

I like your work, Scott.

Such a cute smile, there are a million ways to get this one right and almost impossible to get it wrong.

Scott_Quier

joshhuntnm wrote:

I like your work, Scott.

Such a cute smile, there are a million ways to get this one right and almost impossible to get it wrong.

I agree, but it's mostly because this was a very good photo to start with. And, I learned something along the way in putting this together.

Travis

I want to play, I want to play
This was kind of fun. Here are a few of my takes on the image...

Color


Sepia


Cool BW

craftgirl

Scott, You Rock!

And thanks everyone for the awesome compliments....I will make sure KarLee knows how beautiful she is. It really is hard to take a bad photo of her...cept when shes grumpy of course!

I am just blown away by what everyone has done. Im glad you had a little fun Travis! I wish I was brave enough to play around with others stuff when they allow it....I posted another thread of some work on the kids I did yesterday it anyone want to take another shot at it...lol The title is something like "this was fun".....then inside it says "my kids hate me"...lol