[Sparkle]

You just don't get it!

[altopiet]

You just don't get it!

On the contrary, I think we do, so the first time I put someone on my ignore list.... I visit this forum to relax, not add stress to my life...Cheers and enjoy yours

[Schraubstock]

You just don't get it!

"You just don't get it !" Now print out these words on a piece of paper, not too small, say at least 24 point, stand in front of a mirror and read out aloud.
If necessary several times.

[hinman]

I am newbie and always an amateur, so please read my comment with a grain of salt. You are shooting with my favorite zoom lens in the past.

I actually like the beautiful smile and the sparkling eye on the right eye. The plane offers a bit of distraction in front and the left eye is too dark from the shadow. Using flash might be inappropriate and spoiled the fun with kids in spontaneous moment. If I take out my flash and try to setup on the right bounce, that very cheerful smile might have gone in seconds.

I think if you can experiment on cropping so as to crop out the lower portion of the plane, a square crop, maybe. And if you have LR, try to bring out the detail on the left eye with some dodge and burn with brushing and localized tone curve changes.

Do you mind if I try experiment on editing your picture? I just saw a video on using brush to lighten up area. I will post link when I find it.

Cheers,
Hin

---

Last edited by hinman; 07-10-2014 at 10:54 PM.

[frangutz]

Do you mind if I try experiment on editing your picture? I just saw a video on using brush to lighten up area. I will post link when I find it.

Cheers,
Hin

Hi hinman, yes, feel free to experiment. Is the one I have posted sufficient quality to enable you to play around with it?


=F.

[hinman]

Hi hinman, yes, feel free to experiment. Is the one I have posted sufficient quality to enable you to play around with it?


=F.

Thank you for allowing me to participate. I am new to Lightroom on the complex editing part. The post processing can bring out what you envision in the picture. To me, the highest quality in the picture is the smile well captured. What Sparkle and others critique may all be true. But we are all amateur who love to improve and learn.



This is quick few minutes attempt and I am new to Radial filter where I attempt to localize the highlight, shadow adjustment to the left eye. I still fail to bring out detail on the left eye. And the crop try to take out some distraction from the plane.

I like the beautiful capture but the focus maybe a bit off. And the high ISO and lots of shadow make it a challenge.

p.s. The Lightroom 5 tip comes from this article. The 18:02 – end of the youtube refers to the radial filter that I try to bring out more detail on the left eye.

http://sonyalphalab.com/2014/01/lightroom-5-workflow-tips-and-developing-sony-raw-files/

Cheers,
Hin

[frangutz]

Thank you for allowing me to participate. I am new to Lightroom on the complex editing part.

Hey Hinman, thank you for taking the time to show me! I have compared the two photos. Your quick mods changes the composition of the photo. I see that you have softened the photo a little as well. The high ISO did make it look grainy. In fact, at the time, I was testing the effects of taking photos with no flash and increasing ISO. This was kind of a lucky snap. So I realise now that lower ISO would be better in some instances.


I can also see that cropping has changed the focus.


Ok, thanks for all the feedback and the links. I'll do some more reading and practicing! It's a whole new world....


=F.

[hinman]

ISO 12800 will be a challenge to show detail. I am surprised how well your K30 came out in the challenging setting. My iso is capped at 3200 in the auto-iso setting.

I re-read one of the suggestion is to turn it to b&w. B&W can be used to bring out the attention of the smile and the well lit right eye while hiding the imperfection with noise, shadow, and fringing on top edge of the original picture. I like your capture in b&w



The b&w conversion allows one to be more bold on the sharpening, tone adjustment and it hides all the warm skin tone that is difficult to correct. I like the b&w version and it brings out the lovely smile that is vivid and very natural in your capture. The plane in front is heavily cropped and the editing is meant to minimize distraction. And the narrow depth of field in the resulting picture gives a visual 3D perspective which I always like to use to give the pop to the subject.


Cheers,
Hin

[frangutz]

The b&w conversion allows one to be more bold on the sharpening, tone adjustment and it hides all the warm skin tone that is difficult to correct. I like the b&w version and it brings out the lovely smile that is vivid and natural.

Hey thanks! Yes, when I compare the B&W to the colour, I actually agree that the B&W is much more striking. So what I'll do tonight is use my original file and play around with it. I will try the crop as you have done and run it through a filter. I have GIMP on my Mac, which has some great features.


Thanks to you and severalsnakes for the suggestions.


=F.

[esrandall]

I agree on the B&W -- really makes it pop. I like the square crop, too. You caught a great smile in that picture, for sure

[hinman]

A word of caution on post editing -- it is better to get the shot right and have the least amount of editing.

I suggest to watch the fundamentals while experiment with high ISO, f/stop and long shutter. I am old school and stay with A-mode. But the P mode is the flexible, look up hyper-program to learn about unique Program mode in Pentax.

OK1000 Pentax Blog: Pentax Hyper-Program and Hyper-Manual: Features for the "Best Camera in the World"

The TAv mode is better than shutter mode. Look up the auto-iso range setting. I am learning off camera flash but I find it the most difficult to grasp but also the most rewarding when you get a good shot as the bounce flash help you lift up the shadows.

Cheers,
Hin