Beach Pics

[ksouza]

Hi all,
I'm a newb to DPS and photography in general, got my first DSLR for my birthday! I'm really interested in photography, and eager ot learn. I went to the beach the other day and played around with a couple shots.. all of it is really simple edits. Would love feedback! I haven't purchased Lightroom or PS yet because, put simply, I don't know enough yet to make an educated decision... any advice on that is welcome too!

BEFORE:


AFTER:


For this I used simple edits in Canon's digital photo professional (bc i don't have anything better yet...) to:
*increase sharpness
* high saturation
* some contrast
* set the hue towards orange (?)

BEFORE:


AFTER:

• high saturation
• I adjusted the RGB but can't recall how so, exactly
• adjusted contrast
• cropped

thanks in advance for your comments!

[SusanH1970]

I see what you were going for, but please, PLEASE step away from the saturation slider. Orange people are Ooompa Loompa's from Willy Wonka.

Layers and moderation with color are your friends. I'm not trying to sound mean, but these are WAY to over-saturated, a common mistake. It not only gives unnaturally orange skin tones, but neon backgrounds as well.

I did much the same when new to photography and editing, so don't take it personally.

Layers, masking, and moderation are the key. Keep the skin tones normal, give a bit of color pop without going nuclear and you've got a winner! Learn layers and painting back unwanted effects on skin.

[private]

Well, it all depends on what you are going for - after all, art is in the eye of the beholder. I think Picasso SUCKS! LOL BUt if you like super saturated, then go for it. If you were going for a cross processed kind of look, you are close, but DPP cannot do that.

I know you only have DPP, so layering is not an option- so you get what you get. If money is an issue, try using GIMP and you can play with layers all day and at no cost!

And OUCH re the tatoo - one of the most painful places to get a tatoo, except maybe your elbow - but I guess you know that!

[ksouza]

Originally Posted by private

Well, it all depends on what you are going for - after all, art is in the eye of the beholder. I think Picasso SUCKS! LOL BUt if you like super saturated, then go for it. If you were going for a cross processed kind of look, you are close, but DPP cannot do that.

I know you only have DPP, so layering is not an option- so you get what you get. If money is an issue, try using GIMP and you can play with layers all day and at no cost!

And OUCH re the tatoo - one of the most painful places to get a tatoo, except maybe your elbow - but I guess you know that!

Thanks for the help! I will definitely look into Gimp, being so new i hadn't heard of it. Thanks!!