Kids

Curious what the general consensus is on this one.

It's one of my wife's favorites - so it's a winner in that aspect. I have a stretched canvas of this on our living room wall, which was my wife's mothers day gift last year.

But, technically, it's not a *great* photo. The shadow is kinda out of place, I had exposure compensation turned on when I shot it, the exposure was way off, and I didn't look at the histogram to discover my mistakes until I got home. And, you can't tweak a JPG much at all.



EXIF Data:
D90
18-105 Kit lens
ISO 200
f/7.1, 1/200 sec
62mm

Any suggestions to make it better?

You'd be surprised by how much you have to work with here. Overexposed images are easier to fix than underexposed ones because it's difficult to bring details out of the shadows.

First, I think you need a tighter crop. The subject here is pretty obvious, and you've got a lot of empty space that isn't adding anything to the composition. As I see it, there are two ways to fix this image. You can:

1. Enhance color (as I have above) to pull your subjects away from a drab background, or:
2. Enhance contrast and convert this to black and white.

I think a B&W conversion would also look really nice. What I've done here is a little tone mapping and some simple curve editing along with a color blast using Topaz Adjust. I also cloned out that person in the background.

This is an adorable shot and I can see why your wife loves it. You can get several "versions" of this by trying Anthony's ideas.

I would crop it a little differently: it's obvious the kids are the main subject so they don't need to be smack in the middle and the converging lines of the roads in the background "cut" the kids in half, so your crop seems to be halves and middle. I like the wall/chimney to the right so I would leave that it. I would crop from the right, taking out a lot of the overexposed area and a little from the bottom. This would put the kids off center and make the shot a little more interesting.

And I think it would be a killer shot in BW

Most importantly, you captured a special moment, and that's what matters most! It's a great capture!

Best Regards

I love this photo and can see why your wife loves it also! I played a little also and the kids are the picture. I cropped a little more, played with the shadows and the background a little.



Hope you don't mind me taking the liberty.

I like Yibel's version. I would leave a little more head space at the top . The color and contrast are a little too intense, for me anyway.

wasn't anymore headroom on the image.

OK, you do the best with what you have. Either way it's very good shot.

I cropped a little more

Click to expand...

Hi, John!

Since I haven't asked your permission to download and alter your image, I'm refraining from showing you my version.
I think it comes down to your taste, intent and vision. Your original photo shows the kids clearly in an outdoor environment, while the last crop looks like the photo could have been taken in front of a backdrop in a studio and actually does not seem as striking to me as your original.

Interesting how everybody sees things differently!

Best Regards

Thanks for the feedback and ideas, they are appreciated!

I don't mind anyone posting their own version of something to help facilitate the critiquing! So, Helene, feel free, and Bill, no worries, it does not bother me!

Anthony, thanks for the mention of the Topaz Adjust - I've heard about some Topaz product in my local photo club meeting on occasion, but have not had the opportunity to check any of them out yet - seems like a never ending stream of editing/enhancing programs, plugins etc!

You're right about that...there are sooooo many Photoshop plug-ins and actions out there, it's easy to spend a small fortune. Topaz Adjust is the only one I have in my arsenal that I've actually paid for, and it was worth the minor expense.

I am probably a day late and a dollar short on this, but I too did some polishing on this sweet moment.
So, I will put it forth.

View attachment 892

I cropped a little and straightened a little; cloned out the person and vehicle in the background; added a slight gradient fliter to the background, then blurred along a horizon line; I burned a little across the foreground shadows; and finally I picked up a little skin-tone from the boy's face and brushed it at 10% across the burned highlight in his cheek and forhead.

Obviously, this is a personal photo and very much a momento of an instance, I hope you don't mind me treating it as if it was a moment of mine.

I don't mind anyone posting their own version of something to help facilitate the critiquing! So, Helene, feel free,

Click to expand...

Here's my version -- thanks for letting us "play around" with your precious image

I cropped a little and straightened a little; cloned out the person and vehicle in the background; added a slight gradient fliter to the background, then blurred along a horizon line; I burned a little across the foreground shadows; and finally I picked up a little skin-tone from the boy's face and brushed it at 10% across the burned highlight in his cheek and forhead.

Click to expand...

VitalSpark, really nice job on the editing here!

Best Regards

I had to jump in here also.
BTW, these are the cutest little young'uns I have seen in a long time!
Now me, I was so dang homely, the dog needed a porkchop hanging around my neck just to play with me.
I ain't improved much either.

Pete

Some interesting ideas. I am learning!

Pete, one of the guys in my photography club said peanut butter works well with dogs. He put some on his brother's cheek and waited for the dog to come along and lick it off, and captured *the* best dog and kid image I've ever seen! This, of course, inspired about 2 meetings worth of 'peanut butter' jokes. Made me consider putting a small jar of Jif in my camera bag in a lens slot

All the versions have excellent qualities worthy of a good picture. It's amazing how different eyes can create different very good versions.

johnwartjr said:

Some interesting ideas. I am learning!

Pete, one of the guys in my photography club said peanut butter works well with dogs. He put some on his brother's cheek and waited for the dog to come along and lick it off, and captured *the* best dog and kid image I've ever seen! This, of course, inspired about 2 meetings worth of 'peanut butter' jokes. Made me consider putting a small jar of Jif in my camera bag in a lens slot

Click to expand...

Dude, the old adage "Beauty is only skin deep, Ugly goes slap to the bone" is applicable in my case!

But you gotta remember, If it weren't for people like me, beautiful people would not be worth a damn!

Pete

If it weren't for people like me, beautiful people would not be worth a damn!

Click to expand...

I don't believe that for a minute, honey! Besides, my mom always taught me that it's who and what you are on the inside that makes you beautiful on the outside. And we all know what a cool dude you are !

Porkchop around your neck??? LOL

I love peanut butter, just not good on my fingers when cleaning my lenses.