Editing help. First post pics updated

[jimim]

How is the white balance. I know it might be a bit on the warmer side but I wanted a tad of warmth.

How is the skin texture. Too smooth? Both were smoothed over in lightroom. also isn't 100% smooth slider it was backed off to about 69%

What about is skin color. He was getting sick and his cheeks and face were really red. I downed the saturation a bit. That's about it.

I really wanted to use the portrait shot one for an 11x14 next to one of my daughter but didn't know if maybe the other composition is better. I really needed a portrait vs landscape cause hers is portrait, but maybe I can mix.

Thanks everyone!

Kason thanks you too!

 

[jimim]

just thought I would bump this up to the top for some help from everyone here. I would love some advice or criticism.

thanks,
jimi

 

[2Tiggies]

I'm brand new to post processing and nowhere near an expert so can't really give you any advice, but I will give you my opinion.

First of all, very cute subject

I would probably have brightened the eyes just a tad and softened the skin a bit by dropping noise or clarity. Not sure what you are editing in, but in LR I would have upped the luminance (noise reduction) but VERY slightly. I like a bit of warmth in there and would leave the rosy tint to the cheeks because I think it fits the approximate age of the baby (mine had fire engine red cheeks until she'd cut all her teeth!)

My S/O has just pointed out the spot in the background as a bit of a distraction. May be a bit challenging to remove in the second shot but should be easily done in the first one

 

[jimim]

I'm brand new to post processing and nowhere near an expert so can't really give you any advice, but I will give you my opinion.

First of all, very cute subject

I would probably have brightened the eyes just a tad and softened the skin a bit by dropping noise or clarity. Not sure what you are editing in, but in LR I would have upped the luminance (noise reduction) but VERY slightly. I like a bit of warmth in there and would leave the rosy tint to the cheeks because I think it fits the approximate age of the baby (mine had fire engine red cheeks until she'd cut all her teeth!)

My S/O has just pointed out the spot in the background as a bit of a distraction. May be a bit challenging to remove in the second shot but should be easily done in the first one

Thanks for the reply. Ya those are the big ol dresser knobs. I actually just noticed them.

The first pic his skin is smoothed over with the smoothing brush in lightroom. the second was not. I also did apply some decreased clarity. There is a bit of noise reduction also cause i shoot raw.

I couldn't get his eyes any brighter without messing them up. I do have a preset I made for his eyes but they are soooo dark! My daughter's are blue and a joy to work with. His are a pain. lol

jimi

 

[jimim]

both have the smoothing brush applied to the faces now with it backed off to 69% vs 100% for clarity.

 

[MICKEY88]

maybe it's just me, but I think they are a little dark overall, maybe a little lighter would help bring out the eyes

 

[jimim]

maybe it's just me, but I think they are a little dark overall, maybe a little lighter would help bring out the eyes

thanks for that. i was thinking the same looking back now but on my calibrated monitor they looked fine. i have to go back to night and check again.

jimi

 

[photo_chick]

On my screen (and they will look different on other screens) they look a little dark, green and the contrast is pretty flat. They also look a tiny bit over sharpened.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

I'm relatively new to the digital darkroom, myself, but here are a few things I'd try if these were my photos...

I would work with the first image. First, it will be a little easier to clone out the dresser knob, because it's off to the side. But mainly, because he's looking a little more into the camera in the first one. (Mommy, or whoever had the toy to make him smile, was clearly standing upright and off to the photographer's right. In the future, get the assistant right in there with you. The closer to the lens the better so it appears that he's looking right into the camera for eye contact with the viewer.) You might be able to crop this to a portrait aspect, if that's what you want, but you'll probably lose some of his shoulders and arms.

I agree with the suggestion to brighten the eyes a little.

I'd also be tempted to remove the red pin-point in the very center of his eyes. (The white catch light is good, though. I'd leave that.)

And, yes, maybe soften the redness on his left cheek a bit, and above his lip.

Maybe experiment with a gradient coming from the top right toward the center at a 45 degree angle, just to the start of his forehead, to try to add a tiny bit of exposure to the shaddows in his hair, and give the hair some more definition and separation from the background.

Do you have Photoshop, or just Lightroom? If you have PS, I'd probably also use the dodge and burn tool to burn a little of the shine off the forehead, right temple, and scalp; and dodge a little more light around the right eye and right side of the nose. There's just a little shaddow in there.

 

[jimim]

On my screen (and they will look different on other screens) they look a little dark, green and the contrast is pretty flat. They also look a tiny bit over sharpened.

I didn't get a chance last night to check so ill have to tonight. How do u suggest I get more contrast? I don't like to play. With the curves that much cause I feel like I start to really loose detail then.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[jimim]

I'm relatively new to the digital darkroom, myself, but here are a few things I'd try if these were my photos...

I would work with the first image. First, it will be a little easier to clone out the dresser knob, because it's off to the side. But mainly, because he's looking a little more into the camera in the first one. (Mommy, or whoever had the toy to make him smile, was clearly standing upright and off to the photographer's right. In the future, get the assistant right in there with you. The closer to the lens the better so it appears that he's looking right into the camera for eye contact with the viewer.) You might be able to crop this to a portrait aspect, if that's what you want, but you'll probably lose some of his shoulders and arms.

I agree with the suggestion to brighten the eyes a little.

I'd also be tempted to remove the red pin-point in the very center of his eyes. (The white catch light is good, though. I'd leave that.)

And, yes, maybe soften the redness on his left cheek a bit, and above his lip.

Maybe experiment with a gradient coming from the top right toward the center at a 45 degree angle, just to the start of his forehead, to try to add a tiny bit of exposure to the shaddows in his hair, and give the hair some more definition and separation from the background.

Do you have Photoshop, or just Lightroom? If you have PS, I'd probably also use the dodge and burn tool to burn a little of the shine off the forehead, right temple, and scalp; and dodge a little more light around the right eye and right side of the nose. There's just a little shaddow in there.

Thanks for all that. I only use lightroom. I have cs2 bit I'm on a retina macbookpro now so cs2 is stuck on my other MacBook Pro.

I can dodge and burn in lightroom so ill give that a try. I was by myself when I shot these so I kinda had to take what I was given. I just happened to have my camera out while getting ready to go out. I was playing with the redness in his cheeks bit I wasn't having any luck with the lum sliders.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[photo_chick]

I didn't get a chance last night to check so ill have to tonight. How do u suggest I get more contrast? I don't like to play. With the curves that much cause I feel like I start to really loose detail then.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

The way to really make curves work well is to remember subtle adjustments. Small moves at multiple points to fine tune what you already have. If you pull too far one way or the other you do start to get too much shadow or blown out highlights.... or just general wonkiness in the midtones.

 

[jimim]

So I'm at work just looking at these on my work macbook pro. it's not calibrated compared to my retina which is at home right now.

A few things. PC mentioned about them being too sharp? I'm not seeing this. I think what is suppose to be sharp is and what isn't is also. I only sharpened his eyes, eyebrow area and mouth. The mask is applied all the way p to like 98% blocking out all else.

I also don't see the green tint vs pink?

Contrast wise I just don't have an eye for that so I have to play at home.

What parts are looking too green tinted or too sharp?

jim

 

[2Tiggies]

On my screen I don't see the green tint but as was mentioned, it is going too depend what you're viewing on.

I only use Lightroom and although new to it, it didn't take me long to develop a preference not to use the clarity slider when working on any human faces - even reducing clarity seems to give my photos a bit of an 'ashen' appearance to the tones making my subjects look a bit lifeless. This is just a personal preference however. Have you tried just upping the exposure slightly as a starting point to see how that changes the rest of the photo? I think this will allow you to increase contrast a little without making shadows appear harsh. When I take photos of my baby nephew I tend to deliberately over expose them just a tad.

I dont think Danielle meant that they were overly sharp, but was wondering if they had been overly sharpened, unless I misinterpreted the post.

If it were me I'd first raise the exposure a bit and then see if what you want/feel you need to adjust changes somewhat

 

[jimim]

On my screen I don't see the green tint but as was mentioned, it is going too depend what you're viewing on.

I only use Lightroom and although new to it, it didn't take me long to develop a preference not to use the clarity slider when working on any human faces - even reducing clarity seems to give my photos a bit of an 'ashen' appearance to the tones making my subjects look a bit lifeless. This is just a personal preference however. Have you tried just upping the exposure slightly as a starting point to see how that changes the rest of the photo? I think this will allow you to increase contrast a little without making shadows appear harsh. When I take photos of my baby nephew I tend to deliberately over expose them just a tad.

I dont think Danielle meant that they were overly sharp, but was wondering if they had been overly sharpened, unless I misinterpreted the post.

If it were me I'd first raise the exposure a bit and then see if what you want/feel you need to adjust changes somewhat

thanks for the response. i have to look at my calibrated screen for the tint tonight. i'm calibrated for soft proofing with WHCC. that the only place i use for printing so maybe i'm biased towards their printers.

sharpening wise like i said i just masked over the whole image like 98% and also used the clarity slider down a bit along with a bit of noise reduction in lightroom cause it was a raw image. i have to bring it into nik tonight (the original image) and do the noise reduction there first to see if there is a diff. i have been lazy lately and stay in lightroom for everything. i was using the nik suite alot last year.

i'll fix the eyes also tonight. i'll change his preset for his eye correction and get rid of the spots in his eyes. they are distracting now that i'm looking at them.

jim

 

[photo_chick]

So I'm at work just looking at these on my work macbook pro. it's not calibrated compared to my retina which is at home right now.

A few things. PC mentioned about them being too sharp? I'm not seeing this. I think what is suppose to be sharp is and what isn't is also. I only sharpened his eyes, eyebrow area and mouth. The mask is applied all the way p to like 98% blocking out all else.

I also don't see the green tint vs pink?

Contrast wise I just don't have an eye for that so I have to play at home.

What parts are looking too green tinted or too sharp?

jim

The eyes are where the over sharpening stands out. It honestly looks like sharpening to make up for focus that's a hair off. You can't really make up for that and sharpening just makes a hard edge that looks unnatural. It's a really subtle thing but once you really see the difference between over sharpened and perfectly focused the over sharpened images will stand out to you. Also if you have good contrast you may find you don't need to sharpen as much.

On my screen (a calibrated 27" iMac) the entire second image has a green tint to it. The first image does as well, but not as much.

Sometimes with contrast it's easier to take the image black and white and just deal with tonal values. Get those right then bring the color back.

 

[jimim]

The eyes are where the over sharpening stands out. It honestly looks like sharpening to make up for focus that's a hair off. You can't really make up for that and sharpening just makes a hard edge that looks unnatural. It's a really subtle thing but once you really see the difference between over sharpened and perfectly focused the over sharpened images will stand out to you. Also if you have good contrast you may find you don't need to sharpen as much.

On my screen (a calibrated 27" iMac) the entire second image has a green tint to it. The first image does as well, but not as much.

Sometimes with contrast it's easier to take the image black and white and just deal with tonal values. Get those right then bring the color back.

ya so i'm playing with these now. i'm sitting in the dark cause i think the lighting i was under was messing me up. usually i pull my craft light out but i was lazy the other day and oh boy it shows. very very very green tinted! so that's gone now. i also fixed the eyes. i undid my sharpening and brightened up the eyes also thus far. my sons eyes are mud compared to kate's! lol i also uped the exposure cause they were dark too. i have to do some dodge and buring now.

i'll post when i get done.

 

[jimim]

So I made a few changes. Can u guys let me know if I'm doing better? I didn't dodge or burn anything yet. I did up the exposure, adjusted the sharpness, and fixed the eyes a bit.

jimi