"Pouting Angel" submitted for contests

patchoulimommy · October 13, 2004

I took this picture of my daughter, Isabella, with my cheap little HP Photosmart 435 on the waterfall behind my house in midday september.
The lines, to me, seem perfect...the facial expression a classic pout.
I have submitted this photo to several contests and would like some feedback from other photographers.
I have nearly the same photo (not quite the same pout) in Black and White but I think the color does this picture justice. However, I've gotten from friends many votes for the black and white.

patchoulimommy · October 15, 2004

can u be more specific?
I got two votes saying it wont win. I've seen worse pics win in baby/toddler contests and others. Can you tell me why you voted that it wont win? Is it the resolution, the size, the color, the model...Can you be more specific? I havent been doing this long but very very much want to become good at my work. I dont want to stay an amateur! Any comments would be appreciated.
R

snapapple · October 15, 2004

Darling child...
I saw this earlier and had to think on it a while. I would remove the poll and just ask for comments and critique. I like the idea, but the picture seems to need something. I think the texture of all the rocks is distracting. I tried cropping it at top and right in an 8x10 format. I also tried a duotone with a brown look rather than black and white. I think the white dress stands out more without the color. Although the color may work alright without so many rocks and the spot of sun in the upper left. That light distracts from the girl. (It's hard to see the detail in the small version that I downloaded) I would also take the dark shadows away from under her eyes. I think it needs simplification to put the focus on the child. Then it needs polish. That's just my opinion of course. It's a lovely picture and the child is darling.

patchoulimommy · October 15, 2004

Snapapples suggestions

snapapple wrote:

I saw this earlier and had to think on it a while. I would remove the poll and just ask for comments and critique. I like the idea, but the picture seems to need something. I think the texture of all the rocks is distracting. I tried cropping it at top and right in an 8x10 format. I also tried a duotone with a brown look rather than black and white. I think the white dress stands out more without the color. Although the color may work alright without so many rocks and the spot of sun in the upper left. That light distracts from the girl. (It's hard to see the detail in the small version that I downloaded) I would also take the dark shadows away from under her eyes. I think it needs simplification to put the focus on the child. Then it needs polish. That's just my opinion of course. It's a lovely picture and the child is darling.

Snapapple! Thank you for replying

The thing I liked about the rocks is that they line up perfectly with the position of her leg. I agree about the spot of light tho. I'm unsure on how to lighten the brown under her eyes with photoshop. Do you see what I mean about the rocks?

LBG · October 15, 2004

patchoulimommy wrote:

Snapapple! Thank you for replying The thing I liked about the rocks is that they line up perfectly with the position of her leg. I agree about the spot of light tho. I'm unsure on how to lighten the brown under her eyes with photoshop. Do you see what I mean about the rocks?

The photo uploaded isnt much to work work at 300x400 but she is a cutie! The probelm to me with the photo is 2 fold.
1. Its softness. There is a lot of detail in this photo but it needs to be brought out. I added bit of USM.
2. Its a tough shot in tems of exposure. There is no direct light hitting her or the background so you have a choice. Up the exposure to light the background and blowout her white dress OR set the correct exposure for the dress and have an under exposed background.

Ive uploaded two PS corrections:One sharpened and color adjusted. The other same as the first with soft glow to the dress. Personally I like it without the glow.

snapapple · October 15, 2004

Yes, I agree with how the lines of the rocks work in the composition. However, the body alignment itself makes a lovely composition. If you were to crop some from the top and get rid of that very textured rock and the sun spot, it would help. You can touch up her face by using the clone tool at about 35% strength and cloning in some lighter skin tones over the shadows. The girl is the subject and the rocks are only background, they could even be blurred a little, with the girl in sharp focus. Try to keep her sharp without blowing out the white of the dress. Post your changes here, I'd like to see how it looks.

wxwax · October 15, 2004

Patch, I think Snap hit it on the head. The rocks are very busy, visually. They compete with the child for one's eye. So they're a distraction. I don't see an easy way to crop the image that will remove that distraction. Her face is terrific.

patchoulimommy · October 15, 2004

Rock Cropping

wxwax wrote:

Patch, I think Snap hit it on the head. The rocks are very busy, visually. They compete with the child for one's eye. So they're a distraction. I don't see an easy way to crop the image that will remove that distraction. Her face is terrific.

I totally agree with the spot of sun. The problem is that its really close to the top of her head...It would be very tight...and leave very little, if any, border to the top of the picture.
I'm really going to have to take a class somehow to learn photoshop or find an online tutorial that can help me out...I'm very new to editing pictures. Either that or I'm going to have to buy a REAL camera and take perfect shots every time!!! With 8 children, the ability to buy a camera at all is pretty much nil so I have to work with what I have.
Thanks for the comments and I'm working on it!
Rebecca

"Pouting Angel" submitted for contests

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