To start, I'm very, very nervous, this is my first post here. I started shooting RAW right before the holidays and am using LR2. My confidence in PP is lacking so in general I'd like feed back on what I could do better and what I could pull back on. I am always leery of over processing so I wonder sometimes if I do enough. Specifically: I'd like to know if my sharpening is too much or too little what could I do to make it better? When I convert to jpg it seems to introduce "digital softness" so I then try to compensate by doing a defog but then wonder if it's to stark. Also should I dodge his eyes? Selectively sharpen them? I'm open to any and all suggestions. Feel free to edit and repost!
My EXIF:
Camera: Nikon D90
Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 250
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: On, Return detected
The original SOOC:
Processed:
I brought it up just a smidge, increased the blacks, adjusted contrast, sharpened and masked at about 88%, upped the vibrancy to +21. After converting I applied a defog of R25,A15,T5 and lowered the opacity.
lrg version on smugmug which I think looks a lot better then the Flkr. Maybe I'm just looking at them too much:
http://wenrob.smugmug.com/photos/476230905_PZAsg-L.jpg