I'm prejudiced - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

07/01/2004 10:09:43 AM · #1

This is my granddaughter, so of course I think it's a great photo.
Can I get some feedback, please. The only thing I've done is convert to b&w. The highlights on her face seem a little uneven to me.
Thanks for any input.

oops

Message edited by author 2004-07-01 10:12:13.

Canon EOS-60D

07/01/2004 10:11:26 AM · #2

never mind, you fixed it...

She's so cute! The highlights do seem a tad bright, but that may be my monitor. I love the expression on her face. Did you try using that little select-highlight trick with the control-alt-tilde keys?

Message edited by author 2004-07-01 10:13:33.

Jacko

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

07/01/2004 10:12:44 AM · #3

Wow! What a beautiful girl. Try to find more neutral backgrounds so the main focus can be your grand daughter. Also try to keep the backgrounds far away to reduce shadows.

PS. Why did you convert to B&W.

Message edited by author 2004-07-01 10:13:33.

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

07/01/2004 10:17:28 AM · #4

Thanks Jacko. She's moving fast at this age. I just happened to catch this one while she was leaning against the tree. The original is pretty bright. The black and white seemed to accent the contrast better.

Jacko

Canon EOS-20D

07/01/2004 10:25:33 AM · #5

My son is starting to move pretty fast too ... crawling and getting up by himself. I'm glad I have a DSLR for fast autofocus and a Canon 550eX so I can bounce the light off the ceiling. I couldn't ever imagine trying to take pics of Sam with my G2 ... AF was way too slow.

Originally posted by Marjo:

FranziskaLang

Nikon D100

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Nikon

07/01/2004 10:26:26 AM · #6

You've captured her face and those beautiful big eyes wonderfully. Composition is great, too. The arm against the tree looks a little awkward but that's just one of those things with candid shots ... gotta take them when you get them. Have you tried using just a hint of a sepia tone to give the shot a bit more warmth?

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Nikon

07/01/2004 10:34:19 AM · #7

Thanks, guys. Here's the original. Had my flash unit attached and on, obviously. Pointing up but still blew out some highlights and then there's those shadows on her arm. (big sigh)
I'll try the sepia tone on the black and white. I like the color. I didn't know if it was worth trying to salvage.

Message edited by author 2004-07-02 01:24:40.

FranziskaLang

Nikon D100

07/01/2004 10:42:08 AM · #8

Marjo, I hope you don't mind, I'll remove this if you'd prefer, but I just cropped it differently. I'd still try and clone out the hand a bit, but what do you think? I think there's a lot of potential in this shot ...

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

07/01/2004 10:49:04 AM · #9

I don't mind at all. Thanks, Franziska.
I like that crop. I tried it, too. On the crop I posted,I thought she looked cute with her hand on the tree but didn't know if that was the "grandma in me" that was influencing my opinion. :) That's why I appreciate the feedback so much.

David.C

07/01/2004 01:12:57 PM · #10

Originally posted by Marjo:

Thanks, guys. Here's the original. Had my attached flash on, obviously. Pointing up but still blew out some highlights and then there's those shadows on her arm. (big sigh)
I'll try the sepia tone on the black and white. I like the color. I didn't know if it was worth trying to salvage.

removing the little bit of red-eye and moving the catch-light out of the pupil of her eye would reduce the 'deer in headlights' look.

The biggest issue is with the over-exposure. Using levels or the Shadow/Highlight command in PS CS (which this tutorial) approximates can do wonders for the overall range of tones, but the harsh light of the flash did nasty things to her skin which also become more obvious.

I won't post the results of my half-hearted attempts as I did not spend enough time on it to take make it flattering, just to demonstate to myself the potential.

David

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

07/01/2004 01:46:40 PM · #11

Thanks, David for the link. I will probably just chalk it up to "Could have been a great capture if only..." and accept it for what it is. I did try a little with levels and like you said it made the areas in her skin more obvious.

KaDi

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

07/01/2004 01:56:49 PM · #12

I played with levels including individual colors to come up with this.
To remove the shadows on the tree I selected the shadow area with the magic wand and the used the dodge tool to lighten the area as much a possible. That worked well around the edges of the selected areas but left the darkest shadows green. Went in with the clone tool to reconstruct tree to solve it.
Also used the saturation sponge to enhance the yellow shirt and burn tool to darken the eyes somewhat. (Eyes are always a problem for me, so I hope I didn't mess them up too much.
Hope you don't mind my editing. It's always easier for me to work on someone elses picture than my own, and instructive too. Thanks for the opportunity to practice my skills.