I am excited to come across that I Heart Faces (http://www.iheartfaces.com/) is having a Constructive Feedback Friday. I love love love taking pictures but defiantely consider myself a beginner and would love the chance to get some feedback!
So here is my original:
I wanted to get in some of the background seeing it was Fall...pumpkins, hay....but I just couldn't make it all work. Plus the sun was setting and I thought it was a tad too dark. My girls have very blue eyes and I was trying to keep that as normal as I could at the same time. I do not have great software for editing, but have to make due with what I have at the moment. I heard lightroom is great and once I can save for it, I think I will grab it.
Anyways, any help is appreciated - especially with these two as they are usually the subjects of my shots!
Sweet Picture! I took the liberty of downloading and editing your picture, and explained what I did along the way. I hope it helps you out!
ReplyDeletehttp://amypinney.blogspot.com/2010/03/another-i-heart-faces-edit.html
This is a great photo, Melissa, and I love how bright your girls blue eyes are. This photo didn't really need a lot of work I though, other than an exposure adjustment. I opened it up in Lightroom and bumped up the exposure as well as the brightness and fill light. I then applied one of my favorite presets, Steller Guru Green/Gold from Preset Heaven. Here is the edit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photosbymeg/4445730385/
ReplyDeleteIf you are thinking of investing in a photo editing software, I strongly suggest Photoshop Elements, it's under $100, and usually about $70 on Amazon. As a semi-pro I use a combo of PSE7 and Lightroom 2 and love it. I would definitely recommend getting Elements before investing in Lightroom. Lightroom is great for workflow, but it's not great when you need to do some heavy editing.
Hope that helps and best wishes!
From another Elements fan, I second Morgan's suggestion. The two ladies who already commented gave some great fixes. My suggestion would be to just get a little bit more on your girls' level when taking the photo. With kids, the standard suggestion is to get on their level. Rules can be broken, but I think in this photo it would make the photo more intimate while still allowing the fall colors to pop behind the photo. With Amy's fix, she brought the girls into focus and your goal of having pumpkins and hay showing was still accomplished. The difference is that the girls are now the stars of the photo. If this photo was taken about a foot lower, I think the perspective would have been perfect. If I get a chance, I'll try out a fix also!
ReplyDeleteAmy, Morgan and Drew - Thank you very much for taking the time to look at my picture, as well as do some editing as well. I appreciate all the help! I have been taking pictures for a long time but will admit that I don't really know what I am doing! I feel like I lack in the editing part, due to the software, but it is on my list of "wants"...
ReplyDeleteI have also found that trying to get shots of the both of my girls together is such a challenge.
Thanks again for taking time out of your busy schedules...I appreciate it immensely!