A blog by MOM

Friday, October 2, 2009

Constructive Feedback Friday


Today at I Heart Faces they are not doing their regular Fix IT Friday but letting us post a photo for the more expereinced ones critique our edits. I am defintely learning this whole Photoshop editing thing so I would love some feedback. I chose this photo of my son and daughter walking in the yard. I just love it! They love each other so much and my son ,RJ, is such a good big brother to his littel sister Maddyn! I love the hand on her back and I love the simple little thing of seeing their backs of one of their feet each as they walk.
Here is the original:

here is my edit:

Do you like the black and white? Should I crop it somehow? Do you like the burnt edges? Any thoughts are appreciated?
Thanks!

5 comments:

Tanya October 2, 2009 at 8:11 AM  

Very sweet picture, I probably would have zoomed in closer, croped it a bit, but I love what you did with it.

Rachel October 2, 2009 at 11:45 AM  

Hi Kathy! Thanks for joining in CFF! Your two little ones are adorable. His hand on her back is too cute! My favorite part of this picture is the rim lighting. The outlines of their bodies are lit just perfectly by the sun! Beautiful.

If I were to edit this picture (and I did!), I found the swingset a bit distracting and having the subject in the bullseye cener isn't always ideal. If you put the subjects on a third, it adds a bit of interest. So, I cropped it out a bit.

I also adjusted the shadows/highlihgts and added sunflare. (This is the 2nd time I've suggested this today - maybe I'm in a sunny mood!) Ideally, sunflare is best achieved in camera. But because of the shaddows and rim light and the overexposed sky, the flare is believable and adds interest.

As for the edge burn, it's all a matter of personal preference. I don't tend to like burns on picture with a lot of sky because it start to look a bit unnatural, but again, there are lots of people who like that look, so in the end, what matters is what YOU like!

If you'd like to see my edits, you can find the color here: http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/racheldurik/tutorials/IMG_8019copy.jpg and the black and white (a TRA conversion) here: http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/racheldurik/tutorials/IMG_8019copybw.jpg

Thanks again for joining in. You're doing a great job! Be encouraged!
-Rachel Durik, I ♥ Faces Contributor

Jessica F October 2, 2009 at 1:08 PM  

Kathy- I really like this picture alot!! I like the bw conversion a ton, just not a fan of how strong the vignette is. Maybe turn down the opacity so that you barely notice it. It is just a tad distracting. This really is such an adorable picture, and great composition. You have a good eye for this stuff!

angie {the arthur clan} October 2, 2009 at 6:15 PM  

Hi! I was wondering if you could please send me an email at iheartfaces AT hotmail DOT com. I'd like to ask you a question about your photo. :)

~Angie
co-founder of I ♥ Faces

AJ October 2, 2009 at 7:07 PM  

Oh, so sweet! I love his hand on her back. Such a good big brother :).

I got clone happy and cloned out the swing set and the toys on the ground. I thought about cloning out the window, but changed my mind. After that it was just a color correction and a bump in curves. Oh, and I added a blue sky!

Then I had fun, LOL. A golden vintage edit with texture and a sepia one. This one was fun to work on! Thank you for the opportunity!

Color:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y286/NanasMama/IMG_8019edit.jpg

Golden vintage:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y286/NanasMama/IMG_8019editgoldenvintage.jpg

Sepia:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y286/NanasMama/IMG_8019editsepia.jpg