Island Sunset
by kawesttex

Comment by xXxscarletxXx:
great golden tones

Island Sunset
by kawesttex

Comment by Cutter:
Best: Clouds and rays of light
Worst: composition...this is just one of those things that is 100x better in person...this is just so hard to capture correctly, trust me I have been in that situation too...

Oklahoma-Sunrise
by kawesttex

Comment by DougLoudenback:
What a gorgeous Oklahoma sunrise!

I'm Doug Loudenback of Oklahoma City and I've been looking around for some "Oklahoma Sunrise" images to use in my "Oklahoma Rising" flash file as background images (to replace the graphic sunrise background that is presently used). I've noticed your beautiful Oklahoma Sunrise image and I'd be honored to have your permission to use it. I'll add a "Credits" page in the flash file crediting those who grant such a permission ... I'm trying to find several sunrises to add more "backgrounds", probably half a dozen or so. I grew up in Lawton and the Wichitas have fond memories for me!

You can have a look at the current flash file here (in my blog) //dougdawg.blogspot.com/2006/12/oklahoma-rising.html or here (in my regular web pages) //www.dougloudenback.com/downtown/oklarising.htm , if you want.

Doug

blog: //dougdawg.blogspot.com/
web: //www.dougloudenback.com/oklahomacity.htm

Message edited by author 2006-12-31 22:02:46.

IMG_0132a.jpg
by kawesttex

Comment by Pixlmaker:

Originally posted by Jutilda: I like the playfulness. Great stop action.

I agree. This is a nice capture of a casual moment. One of the better ones from this series, IMHO.

It's all about the shoes
by kawesttex

Comment by L1:
This is my favorite of the bunch...I love the spontaneous look, even if it was posed. Nice exposure and composition. Looks like y'all had a lot of fun shooting! :)

Rene1
by kawesttex

Comment by Brad:
This is another great shot! The pose and the setting work well.

In my opinion, the flash overexposed the foreground rocks, but can very easily be corrected:

Layer, New layer via copy.
Image, Adjustments, Levels, go to the middle slider and slide it to the right until the center box under the histogram reads 0.55
Go to your eraser tool, soft-edged brush, size again dependant on the actual image size you are editing, Opacity and flow to 100% and start erasing back everything except the bright foreground rocks, You can zoom in and use a smaller brush to get more precision if needed, but if using a soft-edged brush, get near, but not on the dividing line.
Tip:
When you think you have erased it all, go to image, adjustments, invert and watch what happens. It will be pretty easy to see areas missed by the eraser, and while inverted, erase away, then Image, Adjustments and Invert back.
Flatten.
That is all I did and got this by doing only the above in about 5 minutes:


Message edited by author 2006-12-21 16:31:23.

IMG_0416a.jpg
by kawesttex

Comment by Bernard_Marx:
I like this shot in the dark and it looks like you have this almost-night exposure down pat.

Carefree
by kawesttex

Comment by Brad:
Great happy & playful shot. Smiles do so much for a woman's face.

IMG_0351a8x10.jpg
by kawesttex

Comment by Brad:
Love the sillyness and carefree look here - it's a great shot!
:))

Suggestion:
New layer via copy.
Image, Adjustments, Levels, move center slider from 1.0 to 1.4 (center of the 3 boxes above histogram)
Image, Adjustments, Brightness/Contrast, bump Brightness to +2 and Contrast to +20
While still in the new layer, select the eraser tool, size depends on actual size of image in edit, set opacity to 100% and erase back everything but the girl and flatten the layers.
As a last touch, he raised foot was so washed out/bright, I did this to restore a more natural color:
New layer via copy, used teh eydropper tool to slect a red tone, in this case, I used a section of her lip and the hex value was 9b5250 - you can type that in and hit ok in the color palette.
Then go to the brush tool, select a soft-edged brush, set to overlay mode in the drop-down, set the opacity to about 40%, flow to 100%, and paint her foot. If it looks too much, that's ok, and don't be too concerned about staying exactly in the lines. If it's too dark /colored, go to Edit, Fade brush and slide the value around until you get what you like. You can go to the eraser tool if you were a bit sloppy and zoom in, use a small eraser brush, and erase the areas you didn't want painted over. The overlay mode isn't like a full on layer of color, but more like a gel, showing the details and texture underneath in order to retain the natural look.
Flatten layers.

This is what I got doing exactly that, using your smaller web-sized shot.


You can open the original and this edit each in their own window, and switch between them to see the changes. I did notice a couple areas on the rocks that I didn't fully erase in the early steps by doing this,, but you get the idea.

Message edited by author 2006-12-21 16:15:11.

IMG_0132a.jpg
by kawesttex

Comment by Jutilda:
I like the playfulness. Great stop action.