Thank you for stopping by! As I rarely have time to update this blog anymore, please come visit me at my new photoblog, Cari Berry Photography where I'll blog the occassional Beauty and the little Beast story, as well as post sneak peeks and stories from all my photo sessions. I try to give return blog love to all visitors over there, and hope to start giveaways there in the very near future!

For visitors to this blog, please accept my apologies, but I've had to turn on captcha because of the insane amount of spam comments I've been getting. Dontcha hate it when one bad apple ruins it for everyone else??!! ;)

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Constructive Feedback Friday


My favorite blog, i Heart Faces, is trying a new feature: Constructive Feedback Friday. I would love some advice from the talented folks that hang out over there, so I'm posting this shot of Beauty. I had just started playing with natural light in this photo, but my house has very little of it, so the original was really dark.

I love the picture, but don't think it follows the "rules" of composition, etc. I also wonder if I over-sharpened and dodged the eyes? How could I have processed, cropped, edited it differently to improve the finished product? (I don't have photoshop!) Or, I'd love feedback on how to improve the SOOC shot too! Thanks for your advice!

My edited version using GIMP (Blogger cuts a little off the right side of photo, so you may want to view it on my Flickr Photostream):


Original SOOC:
f/3.2, 1/25 sec, ISO 100, 10 mm focal length, Sony DSC-H50 (Obviously should have bumped up the ISO, but even at 400 my camera produces so much noise, grrr...)

17 comments:

Melinda said...

I don't know about everyone else, but I think this photo is perfect. You did a wonderful job with your post processing.

Christina - Rant Rave Roll said...

I also love the photo!

Tracy said...

I really like your edit, I couldn't believe you got that from the SOOC, it's awesome! I love that flower headband, it's just precious. :)

My editing tends to be a bit more dramatic, as you can see here

But really, your edit is awesome the only thing I would suggest would be rotating the photo a bit to make her head straighter.

MaryAnne said...

I think this photo is adorable, and your post-processing looks great to this (very amateur) photographer!

If you haven't tried using GIMP (free to download at www.gimp.org) to edit photos, it's a nice freeware alternative to photoshop.

Amanda said...

I wish I could offer advice, but you have already surpassed my knowledge with your editing... sorry!

Adorable picture though... love those eyes and that great headband!

God bless-
Amanda

Drew said...

I love this shot! It looks absolutely professional. You are rockin' the GIMP. :) With the crop, I might have tried it with both elbows showing in the picture. I love the tilt of her head, so I think I'd keep that the same. Now, you need to tell me how you keep headbands and bows on your daughter. Mine has them pulled out immediately. :)

Mrs. M said...

Just another comment from a non-photography expert who thinks it looks pretty great! I am getting ready to take 2 beginner photoshop classes, so I'm sure that will make me an expert soon. Right? :-)

Tonkamom said...

I think your editing looks good. The only things I would have done differently is to
1) crop leaving both elbows in the picture.
2) Warm up the picture just a tad. She is slightly blue.
3) Try to work on your exposure. The more underexposed a picture is, the more grainy and noisy it will be. It will be more noticable when you go to have it printed.

Overall, though, your edit is great!! Great job!!

Rachel said...

So, so cute! Amazing what the editing you did accomplished!

Would you believe I got ours in at #48 of the limit of #50?!?! Talk about squeaking by! :)

Frogmum said...

I think that is one awesome edit :D Nothing more to say !

Tricia said...

Thanks for sending me the link to the muted beach photo - I loved it! And I think you did a great job on your photo.

Sara said...

Very sweet photo! Good job! And thanks for your comment!

angie {the arthur clan} said...

Honestly, if this were my photo I would be working on the eyes a lot more. Unless her eyes are naturally that dark, I would want to make the real color pop out so that they would look more true to life. I'm big into eyes though (more like obsessed!) so that would be the thing I would definitely still be working on.

You took a real problem photo and fixed it up very well though.

~Angie
co-founder of I ♥ Faces

Through My Own Lens said...

Thanks so much for my comment...I'm going to try out that program. I use Picasa3, but I'll check out GIMP...FREE is my favorite word!!! LOL!

Now, your turn. WOW! I think you did a great job on your edit. The SOOC was really dark, I'm so surprised how bright you got it without looking un-natural. And, the eyes...NICE job! OK, now I really need to check out your editing program if you can do that! I like the crop...no need to change it. I would maybe rotate it a little just for fun, to makie it a little interesting, but no need really (and I'm a beginner, so don't know if that's breaking any "rules"). Another thing is that her lips do look "chapped" or something. I'm not sure...maybe you could smooth them out or something. Not a big deal, just something I noticed when I clicked to view your photo larger. Overall, really nice job!!!

Dana Tate said...

Wow She is adorable. I really like your edit. I wish her eyes wer more vibrant. I don't know what program you are using..but there is a good explination of how to do that here.http://photography-on-the.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-189544.html
Thanks for visiting my blog and giving feed back!
Have a blessed Easter.

Karyn said...

Carebear, I'm amazed at what you were able to achieve with your free program, her skin looks really good. I won't repeat what everyone else wrote but I will add the following suggestions: I work in photoshopCS3 so try to take these ideas and translate them to your program: I would fix her under eye circles. I create a layer so I can adjust it at the end, I use my patch or bandaid tool and use lighter skin to cover the dark circles. Then I go back and adjust the layer's opacity a little to bring the under eye circles back the tiniest bit, that way it looks natural and not like she is a porcelain baby. I also see a couple of tiny blemishes, one over the left side of her mouth by her dimple, and another on her rosy red right cheek. If you have a softening tool or a way to "smooth" things, I would select the flower on her head and try to reduce the noise so it looks softer and less like a fake flower.

But truly, I am impressed with what you achieved on your own!

The Me/ The Wife/ The Mom said...

Awesome picture...great edit job!

She is so adorable! Those flower headbands are killer!