How can these be improved to show the raw emotions of the shot

[cdeeter]

I took these two photos at the departure ceremony for the Indiana National Guard brigade that is being deployed to Iraq. I have never been to such an emotionally charged event and I tried to capture the raw emotion of this event as best I could. Are there ways I can improve these pictures either through digital editing or other composition techniques (obviously the moment is gone but I can keep the composition techniques in mind for my next shoot).

My Brother In-Law Saying Goodbye to His Wife


A Mother & Father Dreading Letting Their Son Go


http://www.flickr.com/photos/12748630@N06/

[jiminyClickit]

cdeeter, Welcome

The 'Rules' for this Critique Forum

You can help us by posting one photo at a time. 1865 other active members also want an equal opportunity to show their work. It is less effective for your Critique to bounce back and forth between two shots at once. The guidelines are not exactly obvious, so sometimes we just post the link so you can get a better understanding of how it might work better for everyone.

The title space shows this might be a Composition or a Post Processing question which would get better attention in that Technique area below. Seems like a lot to learn, but it doesn't take long, and things work better for you, too, once you figure the kind of assistance you want. Read the yellow spaces, they will help.

[ike]

Sorry to hear about your brother-in-law being shipped out,

I think, from my perspective, the problem is the composition, you seem to be a little bit too far away for a hard hitting shot,

I had a quick mess with these two, (i hope you dont mind, if you do i will delete them) but with just a few crop adjustments, and some contrast changes i personally think they look alot more emotional,





I think if you did just a few minor changes to each photo that is bugging you, it will make the emotion pop alot more,

ike,

[m13l13]

Hi cdeeter...

I also made a quick edit... I find these quite a challenge to get colours 'n cropping right to match emotions. I think the bottom line is: some things will work for you, others will not.

Here's my edit, just to maybe give you an idea or 2:



I cropped it, copied the original to another layer, adjusted hue 'n sat, created a mask using the gradient tool to let the colours on the face through. Then adjusted the levels to make the background darker and the face lighter.

ike's idea of an even tighter crop (i think) is a very good one, too.

if you object to the edit, please let me know and I'll delete.


regards