tonkahonky
New member
Hey all, just looking for some comments/suggestions about cropping or other postprocessing that could improve this shot. Don't hesitate to leave negative criticism, but try to be constructive please
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Comments wanted on composition/PP
- Thread starter tonkahonky
- Start date
Hey all, just looking for some comments/suggestions about cropping or other postprocessing that could improve this shot. Don't hesitate to leave negative criticism, but try to be constructive please
Skipper494
Forum Pro
The eye follows the light patch in the top right corner and goes out of the photo. Crop it out.
I see blue in their skin. Do a white balance from a probe on the white of the tea cup; that should remove the blue cast. You might want this at partial strength, not 100%. Also, set a black point from a probe on black in the hair. These two changes will pop the image.
The brightness at the upper right is a problem, but the image is a pleasing 4:3 ratio, and the problem with cropping that down is that the border gets too close to the head of the woman in the foreground. An alternative is to apply a gradient darkening filter from the right near the top. This is easy to do with Picture Window Pro. This move keeps the receding dirt road, which adds depth to the image.
The faces especially benefit from a softening of contrast done with an inverted luminance mask. Extract the luminance channel, invert to its negative, blur slightly, and blend it about 10 percent strength with the original. You can mask only the faces for this operation if desired. Again, easy to do with Picture Window Pro.
Finally, a faint orange filter (81A in old film filter labeling) is helpful, expecially giving the bright areas at the upper right a pleasing tone.
I am a novice and welcome criticism of these suggestions.
The brightness at the upper right is a problem, but the image is a pleasing 4:3 ratio, and the problem with cropping that down is that the border gets too close to the head of the woman in the foreground. An alternative is to apply a gradient darkening filter from the right near the top. This is easy to do with Picture Window Pro. This move keeps the receding dirt road, which adds depth to the image.
The faces especially benefit from a softening of contrast done with an inverted luminance mask. Extract the luminance channel, invert to its negative, blur slightly, and blend it about 10 percent strength with the original. You can mask only the faces for this operation if desired. Again, easy to do with Picture Window Pro.
Finally, a faint orange filter (81A in old film filter labeling) is helpful, expecially giving the bright areas at the upper right a pleasing tone.
I am a novice and welcome criticism of these suggestions.
AnandaSim
Forum Pro
I think that photo has a lot of honesty and sincerity. I'm not into PP so I can't advise on that. However, composition wise, I would emphasise what struck me - the communication and sincerity between the girl and the photographer. I made a copy and will delete this after you have seen it.
--
Ananda
http://anandasim.blogspot.com
https://sites.google.com/site/asphotokb
'There are a whole range of greys and colours - from
the photographer who shoots everything in iA / green
AUTO to the one who shoots Manual Everything. There
is no right or wrong - there are just instances of
individuality and individual choice.'
--
Ananda
http://anandasim.blogspot.com
https://sites.google.com/site/asphotokb
'There are a whole range of greys and colours - from
the photographer who shoots everything in iA / green
AUTO to the one who shoots Manual Everything. There
is no right or wrong - there are just instances of
individuality and individual choice.'
tonkahonky
New member
Thanks, those are all really cool ideas and I will try them all and see what I think. Will re-post edited image when I'm done.
I like the arrangement of the graphic elements. I agree with darkening the upper right corner.
I'd also lighten the girl on the right, who seems to be in shadow. And perhaps brigthen the cup a hair.
Shooting people close with a wide angle lens tends to make their noses more pronounced. Subjects frequently disapprove.
I'd also lighten the girl on the right, who seems to be in shadow. And perhaps brigthen the cup a hair.
Shooting people close with a wide angle lens tends to make their noses more pronounced. Subjects frequently disapprove.
tonkahonky
New member
Thanks, that girl looked at me like that the entire weekend, but I'm not sure if it was just me, or if she looks at everyone that way... I printed the raw jpeg and gave a copy to her family, they were wild for it, but I definitely think it needs some adjustment. Thanks for the comments.
AnandaSim
Forum Pro
Well sometimes we just have to be there and the shot happens. The other girl actually provides a counterpoint.
--
Ananda
http://anandasim.blogspot.com
https://sites.google.com/site/asphotokb
'There are a whole range of greys and colours - from
the photographer who shoots everything in iA / green
AUTO to the one who shoots Manual Everything. There
is no right or wrong - there are just instances of
individuality and individual choice.'
tonkahonky
New member
Charles2, I tried most of what you recommended. Great suggestions! I didn't think the luminance blur mask worked too well, but I'm not 100% sure I did it correctly. I couldn't find the exact way to extract the luminance channel, but is creating a black to white gradient map (or inverted) the same thing? I didn't think so and I scrapped it.
Anyway, have i tweaked the levels too much or is the corner gradient darkening too obvious? I used a radial gradient.
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