Lightroom 1.1 Edits - Feedback Please?

[deludel]

I haven't been on these forums in quite a while .. but I miss the community, so here I am!!

As a new user of Lightroom (I'm on version 1.1) I have been having a blast. Here are a few images I've played with lately. I've been winging it, and could use some HONEST feedback. What works/doesn't work?

I should mention that I've never calibrated my monitor, and consistently have issues where my images appear "dark" .. feel free to comment ... I have a borrowed calibration kit at home and need to get to it this week!!

~Lori

[K McCall]

As a fellow Lightroom user, please allow me to say that I LOVE these photos and that I can tell that most of that has to do with the skills of the photographer and not the software

The first one is fantastic. The processing matches her expression, with those wispy curls as a perfect frame. Seriously, this would be one of the first images in my portfolio if I'd taken this.

The top-right-hand-corner is the only one that bothers me a bit. The pink of his shirt bleeds into his shorts, and his shorts bleed into his leg. Since it's both colors, I'm going to guess this is a clarity/fill light issue. Also, his face is kind of an odd color.

You might consider desaturating the magentas in the bottom-right-hand pic. The bit around her eyes makes it look as though she might have been crying previously.

These are tiny issues compared to how much I love the overall effect of each one. It looks as though you've mastered processing to suit the photo.

[deludel]

Originally Posted by K McCall

As a fellow Lightroom user, please allow me to say that I LOVE these photos and that I can tell that most of that has to do with the skills of the photographer and not the software

The first one is fantastic. The processing matches her expression, with those wispy curls as a perfect frame. Seriously, this would be one of the first images in my portfolio if I'd taken this.

The top-right-hand-corner is the only one that bothers me a bit. The pink of his shirt bleeds into his shorts, and his shorts bleed into his leg. Since it's both colors, I'm going to guess this is a clarity/fill light issue. Also, his face is kind of an odd color.

You might consider desaturating the magentas in the bottom-right-hand pic. The bit around her eyes makes it look as though she might have been crying previously.

These are tiny issues compared to how much I love the overall effect of each one. It looks as though you've mastered processing to suit the photo.

Thanks so much! This was my first time posting for C&C here.
First photo ... this was taken at near-dark, and I was in ISO1600. The grain annoyed me, but as you pulled out of the image, I tried to make it work with the effect. If I may say .. how beautiful is this child?!?

As far as those bleeding colors go .. that's too much "recovery" I think. I can work on that.

Those pink eyes? Too much time in the ocean, she had just come out after about 2 hours of swimming at the beach! LOL .. Good tip with the magenta, I'll give it a shot.

[branphlake]

I don't know if it's just me, but the middle right one seems to look out of focus... like, the plane of focus falls back about .5 inches on her face rather than right on her eye. I don't know, what do you think?