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07/22/2014 06:47:55 AM · #1
(Original)

What I edited



I was not working on composition or basic stuff or anything like that.. if I knew my friend was going to keep this picture and have it printed out, I would have made sure I changed my settings to include a lot of Bokeh in it.. but she just lovessss this picture lol go figure..

I was however, playing with the triggers and the flash and learning how that works off camera and I wanted some outside shots in the sun, so I had very willing guinea pigs to help..

I always seem to add too much contrast on things and make things darker than what it is, I do use lightroom and PS2

What would you do with this? Thanks so much !! I will check back later :0))
07/22/2014 07:34:41 AM · #2
the original and edited look the same...

07/22/2014 07:40:10 AM · #3
Originally posted by Mike:

the original and edited look the same...


What he said. They seem identical to me.
07/22/2014 07:54:35 AM · #4
Hi Judi, I'm not an expert in portraits, everything but, but I've played with your image and this is the result:
07/22/2014 08:00:17 AM · #5
here's a heavy handed critique :)

if you want to improve past snapshot status you need to think about all this before you start shooting.

dont use a flash outside if you have sun, use a reflector instead. much easier to control the camera as you arent fighting your shutter speeds, plus it can throw the wb off. you say you want to get wider than f4 to get more bokeh. First you have nothing that would be pleasing bokeh and two you'd probably have out of focus body parts. you would also start infringing on the max sync speed if you open the lens too much more. another reason to not use flash outside is its hard to shoot wide apertures without an nd filter to cut light.

the ambient is way too dark, probably because you used flash. if you did, dont spot meter either, set it to evaluate the entire scene and shoot raw, check you histogram and make sure you arent clipping and lights and darks. if you have a nice solid curve you can adjust the lights and shadows in post.

the one girl needs more light in her eyes, that's the big problem i see with this image.

get lower, you are towering over them, the camera needs to be close to their level.

you are a photographer or you strive to be one so you need to think about all this before: background, lighting, composition, etc... there is nothing wrong with taking snap shots and candid, i do it. if you want to improve yourself you need to differentiate the two and start thinking like a photographer.

your image is two cute kids and im sure your friend loves it, it very difficult to make a picture like this, and many for that matter, transcend and appeal to a larger group who don't have an emotional connection to the subjects. as a photographer that's your goal, you are showing people how you see the world and that's why people hire you, because they like your vision and style.

to edit this, i'd pull up the shadows, dodge the shadows on the faces, pull up the color temp a bit, desaturate the image a few steps and add some vibrance. add a vignette to even out the darks in the background and maybe add a dodging gradient filter to each face to make them pop even more. i'd also try to lighten the one girls eyes to make like the other's if there is any detail there to work with.

if you want to shoot me the raw i'll give it a go for you.

hope this helps

Message edited by author 2014-07-22 08:03:32.
07/22/2014 08:17:05 AM · #6
First, what Mike said. There are a lot of things you can to to get the exposure and sharpness right first.

That said, this can be improved. Working with a JPEG is a bit tough, but in 3 minutes I came up with this.



Cropped
White Balance
Pull down black levels
Increase exposure,
Clone out (badly) the wrist band
Remove all blue except the shirts
Sharpen edges overall
Sharpen the eyes
Reverse vignette to open the edges, but not too much
07/22/2014 08:17:33 AM · #7
I did have the white umbrella I was playing with as well.. these are all good tips know as well.. and its all appreciated it very much and yes it does help a lot... the good thing is I have no intentions of becoming a portrait photographer professionally, but I do want to improve the basic stuff and I haven't started to learn this part of the photography world yet, just learning about the equipment and trying to learn the basics of my abc stuff..playing around is always fun but I need to take the next step on things and learn this.. I been using this lighting stuff all wrong now but it is good to know that I don't have to use the flash with that set up...

I do have the RAW as well

I did upload the same thing.. dang it.. thanks for noticing that, my fault, this was that edit I had..





Message edited by author 2014-07-22 08:27:02.
07/22/2014 08:47:49 AM · #8
I will play with the suggestions as well :-))
07/22/2014 09:28:59 AM · #9
Originally posted by jgirl57:

I been using this lighting stuff all wrong now but it is good to know that I don't have to use the flash with that set up...



you use it when you need it, there is no hard fast rule but sometimes it just complicates matters when there is a simpler way.
07/22/2014 10:07:13 AM · #10
LOL I am always making things harder than what it should be..

RAW Version

That is the link to the original RAW.. wasn't sure how to connect that to here since the uploads were only jpg...
07/22/2014 02:04:13 PM · #11
I wasn't able to download the RAW from that Google link, but I snagged the smaller, unedited preview.



Photoshop
Reduced Exposure -.15
Increased Contrast +25
Bumped Vibrance +38
Increased Saturation +10

Then I got a little crazy...

I do most of my dodging and burning on separate layers set to Overlay mode. Once the layer is set to Overlay, you just paint with a black or white brush where you want to "dodge" or "burn". This is nondestructive, and you can change the opacity and fill on the layer itself as you go, if you change your mind. I've added some background color to show my edits.

Background vignette layer (plus a little blurp in the youngest's face apparently)


This one's funny. I burned their facial details a little, mainly lips.


Another funny one. With the exception of the brightening of their teeth and whites of eyes, think of the rest like makeup. When you apply the shimmer powder, you do your t-zone, balls of cheeks, and a dab right in the corner of the eye.


These are all too funny! Dodging their irises.


After that, I just sharpened, resized, and sharpened again. I like Kroburg's idea to crop the image too. If your friend is wanting to print it, a square image like he did would look really nice.

Edit to post: Oh, whoops. I completely forgot a major thing I did. I "healed" the sleepy bags under the oldest's eyes.

Message edited by author 2014-07-22 14:13:02.
07/22/2014 02:39:21 PM · #12
I so need to learn how to do this kind of editing... wow..
Thank you, yes they want to print it in a 5x7
07/22/2014 03:03:50 PM · #13
Here's a good tutorial on the dodging and burning on an Overlay layer.

Overlay Dodge and Soft-Light Burn Technique
07/22/2014 03:07:28 PM · #14
awesome thank you Michelle!!

I will def check that out
07/22/2014 03:27:03 PM · #15
Don't neglect a screen layer applied at about 50% to brighten over dark images while preserving the shadows.

07/22/2014 03:45:34 PM · #16
I will have to learn about screen layers too
07/22/2014 04:12:36 PM · #17
Originally posted by jgirl57:

I will have to learn about screen layers too

We'll give you until the end of the month to learn all about layers and their various modes... I kid, I kid.

Layers and their modes are a complex subject. I use my dodge/burn method all the time, and just learned in the video that I posted for you that I can make the background of those layers a neutral grey. Makes perfect sense, but I clearly hadn't thought of it on my own previously or I would have been using it.

I think the important lesson to learn from the posts regarding Layers, is that Layers are nondestructive to the original image. Layers make experimenting a whole lot less frustrating too.

- If you dodge and burn on your original and then change your mind later, you're screwed, because you've done another 50 things since then. You could start over, but you'll have lost those 50 other things you did that may have been really awesome. You also run a higher risk of overprocessing an image if you do it all on one, because you end up trying to correct weird stuff that pop up. In the end, you're left with a mess.

- If you edit (example: dodge or burn) on a separate layer and change your mind later, you're fine! You can just delete the unwanted layer or you can tweak its settings (mode, opacity, etc). Everything you've done since creating the dodge/burn layer is totally intact on their own layers. No time lost, and you don't have to try to remember what you did to recreate anything. You can have a dodge layer, a burn layer, a contrast layer, a layer where you just scribbled out of frustration, etc. They're all their own thing, and your original is still pristine and untouched!
07/22/2014 07:14:18 PM · #18
Here is how I would edit this one.

07/22/2014 08:16:20 PM · #19
A lot of folks have some great edits in this one, but since I can't help editing other people's photos, here's my take:



There's some skin tone smoothing, dodge and burn, eye brightening, eye sharpening, vignette, a bunch of stuff, in small increments. If you're interested I'll be happy to provide the details.

Overall I think this is a fine picture. Not a 'portrait' per se, but it looks like a photo caught in a moment, and in that I think you shot it very well. For children, the more spontaneous moments are the best photos. Thanks for posting this :)
07/22/2014 09:42:42 PM · #20
Originally posted by Mike:

here's a heavy handed critique :)

if you want to improve past snapshot status you need to think about all this before you start shooting.

dont use a flash outside if you have sun, use a reflector instead. much easier to control the camera as you arent fighting your shutter speeds, plus it can throw the wb off. you say you want to get wider than f4 to get more bokeh. First you have nothing that would be pleasing bokeh and two you'd probably have out of focus body parts. you would also start infringing on the max sync speed if you open the lens too much more. another reason to not use flash outside is its hard to shoot wide apertures without an nd filter to cut light.

the ambient is way too dark, probably because you used flash. if you did, dont spot meter either, set it to evaluate the entire scene and shoot raw, check you histogram and make sure you arent clipping and lights and darks. if you have a nice solid curve you can adjust the lights and shadows in post.

the one girl needs more light in her eyes, that's the big problem i see with this image.

get lower, you are towering over them, the camera needs to be close to their level.

you are a photographer or you strive to be one so you need to think about all this before: background, lighting, composition, etc... there is nothing wrong with taking snap shots and candid, i do it. if you want to improve yourself you need to differentiate the two and start thinking like a photographer.

your image is two cute kids and im sure your friend loves it, it very difficult to make a picture like this, and many for that matter, transcend and appeal to a larger group who don't have an emotional connection to the subjects. as a photographer that's your goal, you are showing people how you see the world and that's why people hire you, because they like your vision and style.

to edit this, i'd pull up the shadows, dodge the shadows on the faces, pull up the color temp a bit, desaturate the image a few steps and add some vibrance. add a vignette to even out the darks in the background and maybe add a dodging gradient filter to each face to make them pop even more. i'd also try to lighten the one girls eyes to make like the other's if there is any detail there to work with.

if you want to shoot me the raw i'll give it a go for you.

hope this helps


fair comment. If you use FI Flash correctly, I mean that it is not obvious esp with backlighting it is better than a reflector, I have seen reflectors over lighting the shadows many times, but I guess its each to his own. syncro flash does take a bit of calculation
07/22/2014 09:50:58 PM · #21
Originally posted by ecmguy:

A lot of folks have some great edits in this one, but since I can't help editing other people's photos, here's my take:



There's some skin tone smoothing, dodge and burn, eye brightening, eye sharpening, vignette, a bunch of stuff, in small increments. If you're interested I'll be happy to provide the details.

Overall I think this is a fine picture. Not a 'portrait' per se, but it looks like a photo caught in a moment, and in that I think you shot it very well. For children, the more spontaneous moments are the best photos. Thanks for posting this :)


LOL thank you for your take and everyone else as well, this is a great learning experience and learning curve for me right now... I am so new to editing its all so much at once my heads spinning lolol

Yes, I am very interested in the steps to this...

07/22/2014 09:53:45 PM · #22
Originally posted by kiwinick:



fair comment. If you use FI Flash correctly, I mean that it is not obvious esp with backlighting it is better than a reflector, I have seen reflectors over lighting the shadows many times, but I guess its each to his own. syncro flash does take a bit of calculation


I am not sure what an FI flash is this lighting stuff is very, very new to me by a few weeks.... I brought a Yongnuo 560II flash and had it for about a week, and just received the trigger releases a few days ago..all I know so far is that my flash takes up A LOT of batteries quick already exchanged a set out LOL..

07/22/2014 09:55:29 PM · #23
Originally posted by aliqui:

Originally posted by jgirl57:

I will have to learn about screen layers too

We'll give you until the end of the month to learn all about layers and their various modes... I kid, I kid.

Layers and their modes are a complex subject. I use my dodge/burn method all the time, and just learned in the video that I posted for you that I can make the background of those layers a neutral grey. Makes perfect sense, but I clearly hadn't thought of it on my own previously or I would have been using it.

I think the important lesson to learn from the posts regarding Layers, is that Layers are nondestructive to the original image. Layers make experimenting a whole lot less frustrating too.

- If you dodge and burn on your original and then change your mind later, you're screwed, because you've done another 50 things since then. You could start over, but you'll have lost those 50 other things you did that may have been really awesome. You also run a higher risk of overprocessing an image if you do it all on one, because you end up trying to correct weird stuff that pop up. In the end, you're left with a mess.

- If you edit (example: dodge or burn) on a separate layer and change your mind later, you're fine! You can just delete the unwanted layer or you can tweak its settings (mode, opacity, etc). Everything you've done since creating the dodge/burn layer is totally intact on their own layers. No time lost, and you don't have to try to remember what you did to recreate anything. You can have a dodge layer, a burn layer, a contrast layer, a layer where you just scribbled out of frustration, etc. They're all their own thing, and your original is still pristine and untouched!


LOL! I am a fast learner but not THAT fast hahahaha!

This is just something really awesomely cool to learn I can not wait to start going through tutorials
07/22/2014 10:06:32 PM · #24
I couldn't get the Original raw from the link either. But took a quick shot at it. As a snapshot I think it looks better in black and white.
07/22/2014 10:10:09 PM · #25
What is the easiest way to get you all the RAW files .. it won't allow the upload and only JPG??

My RAW is a NEF File

I do like that black and white better too and i do like the closer crops as well :0)) I will have to show her a black and white version as well

Message edited by author 2014-07-22 22:10:39.
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