Can some one help me edit this picture?

[Spinning]

This is my DD. I love this picture and it was her best dive of the season! I am thrilled I actually got it on film. But when I print it, the colors are a wee bit washed out. Any thoughts?

 

[OCSurfCity]

I copied your image and tweaked the contrast and removed some of the Cyan (bluish tint) to the image. Then I sharped the image a bit.

 

[JR6ooo4]

How about this version...

It helps to have more room forward of the action to give our imagination room. But it is also nice to include the board in this type event. I cut the water completely because we can all assume she is diving into water. Post a link to the original file size if you like anyones edit so they could do a Quality version.
Mikeeee

 

[StrwLady]

My edit

Btw very nice stop action shot.

Take Care
Jamie

 

[StrwLady]

another edit

Take Care
Jamie

 

[StrwLady]

Ok one more

 

[pxlbarrel]

My turn!

You may need to provide a higher res photo if you want it printed out though....

 

[Spinning]

those great! What program did you use? I have been play with nero and photo shop. I think what bugs me the most when printed is the washed out sky. The meet was at 6 PM.

 

[pxlbarrel]

I use Photoshop.

For my edit, I first used Levels and adjusted it a tad so that it was a bit brighter and had more contrast. Then I used Variations, put the level to fine, and put in some red to compensate for the bluish tint. Then I just adjusted brightness and contrast until it look ok to me.

If you're going to do all this though, you need to make sure your monitor is calibrated. Photoshop's Gamma calibration thingy (I'm so techie. ) will do the trick. That's just so that if you print it out, the colours you see on your screen should be truer to what you're printing out.

I think the overcast sky and the impending dusk was your culprit. I bet your full sunshine photos are perfectly exposed.

 

[jann1033]

i need an editing for total dummies but for the sky you can get a circular polarizer and it intensifies the sky color and also would remove, in this case the water glare...you can check on ebay and sometimes find them used sometimes as they can be pricey depending on your filter size

this is the same area of sky ( roughly) on an exceptionally blue day ( usually it looks like yours hehe)taken a few mins apart the lighter without polarizer( trying out one i got)

 

[Spinning]

would you believe I have one of those filters and never ever remember to put it on the camera! UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dive season is over but there is hope for next year! LOL!
Thanks!

 

[jann1033]

you also have to remember to turn it till the sky changes otherwise, it'll just look like the same old washed out sky...i think it is best used 90 degrees(????) from the sun

 

[StrwLady]

I use adobe photo deluxe. I first removed the concrete. I have found in editing my stuff that if one area is very bright it can effect the color/brightness/contrast edit of the rest of the picture. I used the automatic color/brightness/contrast fix and then removed fluorescent lighting. On the second and third shot I also ran through a series of fixes to remove graininess that can occur with digital pictures. Also remember every time you save a picture you chance degrading it a little. So when you do your fixes always do it from the original shot.

The best way to get better at editing pictures to your liking is play with the edit program. One day sit down with a picutre and use all the differnt tools and see how it comes out. You will learn what you need to do to the pictures to get them the way you like.

Take Care
Jamie

 

[StrwLady]

If the sky is what is giving you problems how about this.

Take Care
jamie

 

[OCSurfCity]

I use Adobe Photo Shop CS or 7.0. Next year adjust your white balance so that your whites do not appear blue.

Crop in tight (diving board, diver and part of the water). You want to tell a story of your subject. The best way to do this is using a zoom lens or even a telephoto lens.

 

[Violet Crayon]

I gave it a shot with keeping the same composition.

I adjusted the curves in photoshop, cut out the over exposed sky, and added a light blue layer behind that. I dodged and burned to try (key word) to make it have some sort of sky look.

 

[jann1033]

just some thoughts from my brain to yours ...

i know nothing about competitive diving but if possible i would think you'd like to get the shot from a more forward side angle , that way you could see her form but also see her face. it also might cleanup some of the extraneous people since i am guessing they aren't right behind the board( maybe not). like if you stood behind the lady in pink...it might be one of those "stake out our spot 2 hrs before" deals. i also agree about tightening up on her, at least for some shots..and if you have a burst on your camera a series of shots were be nice, from leaving the board to hitting the water. you could put them in a frame with that many holes or maybe stitch them together

and i just downloaded a trial of photoshop elements 4, way way way easier to use than the "big kid" photoshop( although it still has those layers i can not get to work for anything)...and it has a feature where you can get rid of color cast and erase people/ objects...it's pretty inexpensive on ebay( $50 ish) so you might want to consider it

 

[Spinning]

This meet I couldn't be where I would normally would like to be. Which is basically where the lady in pink was but on the opposite side of the pool.
Also depends on the layout of the pool. Plus normally her best dive is her 1/2 twist off the 3 meter and in this spot I would be able to get her during the twist. I also didn't want to stress her out with me standing and walking around trying to get the best shots. On the side of the pools you have at least 3 judges on one side, 2 on the other, this meet it was a total of 6 and a dive judge. Then you have to no be in the view of the score recorder table.
I do have this dive in 3 positions. I have tried to crop in when taking the shot but part of the problem is I never know how high DD will jump or how far out she will go. She isn't 100% consistant yet. So at times I have her almost out of the picture.
Next year I want to try and capture some dive pictures from the 5 meter looking down on the 1 meter board that would be kewl. We can do that at our home pool. Not sure about during a meet but definately at practice.

 

[jann1033]

all good points

 

[pxlbarrel]

We're getting away from how to edit the photo but about the composition...I dunno, I don't mind the audience or the trees or the pool or the concrete being in the shot. Sometimes you need all of those markers in a photo to establish where you took the photo in the first place. And rather than photoshopping in things or photoshopping things out, I like to preserve the photo that's been taken...and restrict my editing to colour/brightness/contrast and a little cropping to make sure it looks nice.

You're taking a photo of the event...a moment in the life of your daughter. It's not just a diving photo...it has more meaning than that. 20 years from now, you want to be able to look at that photo, see that the trees are probably way taller now, recognize people in the crowd, recognize what event and where it was taken.

Sure, the diver is the focal point but sometimes, the rest of the photo doesn't need to be completely edited/cropped out. Take those spectacular diver only photos but don't forget these kind of photos as well.

Well, that's my 2 cents.