HA! HA! Nan

[snapdragon]

Critique My Shot ,this shot was only touched in picasa ,crop , B&W & soft focus ,I like the shot but if anyone has any advice on post editing that would make this a better photo ,I would be very thankful .it is 1 in a set of 4 , all IMO good shots but could use an extra something , I think they have potencial , but then they are my grand sons .maybe this is as good as it gets with the photos I took ,your opinions please .

[jiminyClickit]

snapdragon,

If you've experimented with layers, putting one over a copy of your original, then turning it into a negative, and lowering the contrast, will give you a less harsh flashspot. Set the layer to Darken at about 20%. I added a second layer, Lighten, 20% to bring some areas back. A vignette then gave b/g less impact. Everything is adjustable so you can get what suits you. The whites of his eyes on these layers may be erased to make them stand out.

[kelly]

I love what you did jiminy!! Love the photo to begin with snapdragon. I need to learn how to do layers!

[snapdragon]

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

snapdragon,

If you've experimented with layers, putting one over a copy of your original, then turning it into a negative, and lowering the contrast, will give you a less harsh flashspot. Set the layer to Darken at about 20%. I added a second layer, Lighten, 20% to bring some areas back. A vignette then gave b/g less impact. Everything is adjustable so you can get what suits you. The whites of his eyes on these layers may be erased to make them stand out.

Thank you Jiminy , I love what you did , I am only starting to play in photo studio , and am truly amazed at what you can do , i will try to follow your directions ,I am not sure if the layers work the same in my program , it is not the best .How do you do a vignette ?

[snapdragon]

Originally Posted by kelly

I love what you did jiminy!! Love the photo to begin with snapdragon. I need to learn how to do layers!

Thanks kelly , I need to learn it too , Jimminy did a great job ,now if i can only follow what he did .

[jiminyClickit]

snapdragon, You are most welcome

PhotoDeluxe has spoiled me, since some of it is automatic. The vignette for example: I put anything on a layer (a copy of original works), then go to a Gradient function. There I can choose two colors and how I want them to blend. Yours is simply inside to outside, white to black. Using Contrast and Brighten on it will then control how much area and level of darkness you get. High Contrast will make obvious black corners. If you blur this layer, it also smoothes out the blend.

I've seen some others use the Oval Selection, Invert, Fill Selection and I guess blur also to soften edges. If you pull at the resizing tabs on the corners of your vignette layer, you can put the light center wherever you want it. On yours I pulled the top two corners to put the lightest area over the eyes.

[snapdragon]

Originally Posted by jiminyClickit

snapdragon, You are most welcome

PhotoDeluxe has spoiled me, since some of it is automatic. The vignette for example: I put anything on a layer (a copy of original works), then go to a Gradient function. There I can choose two colors and how I want them to blend. Yours is simply inside to outside, white to black. Using Contrast and Brighten on it will then control how much area and level of darkness you get. High Contrast will make obvious black corners. If you blur this layer, it also smoothes out the blend.

I've seen some others use the Oval Selection, Invert, Fill Selection and I guess blur also to soften edges. If you pull at the resizing tabs on the corners of your vignette layer, you can put the light center wherever you want it. On yours I pulled the top two corners to put the lightest area over the eyes.

Boy I have a lot to learn , I am not sure that all this is even possiable in my program Photo Studio , thanks for trying to explain it , to me , this is the thing i love about photography& photo editing , there seems to be an never ending amount of things one can learn ,and i am only starting

[Particles Of Light]

Well monitors are monitors and printed matter is printed matter...but I like the original post...don't see anything significantly wrong with it...it's both cute and creative.