How is the post prod treatment?

[Matthew_Scullion]

Hi all,

Took this shot whilst at a wedding last weekend. It's of my wife and her friend Kerry, evidently amused by something. Shot details are Nikon D70, 50mm lens, f/1.4, Aperture Priority and Center Weighted Metering.

I touched the photo up and did some post prod and just wondered what people thought of the finished product. Any critique on the shot in general would also be appreciated.

Before:


After:



Thanks in advance for any suggestions or feedback.

[SCusey]

What a happy shot! I like your PP, it really makes them stand out from the background, and the tone is perfect for my taste.

Coming from a woman, they are wearing such beautiful dresses. So the only thing I would have liked to see are the shoes they are wearing to compliment their dresses and lovely laughter.

Thanks for sharing this shot!

[wannabephotographer]

I think you overcooked this one. The turquoise blue is a little too much and their skin tones seem off.

[weezerisrock]

Originally Posted by wannabephotographer

I think you overcooked this one. The turquoise blue is a little too much and their skin tones seem off.

gonna agree with this here, I actually prefer the original. Also the grass looks like got killed in the transition I do love the shot though.

[Matthew_Scullion]

Hmm, this is the problem with artistic licence isn't it?! I like the saturated colours and also, the "burnt" (as I would prefer to describe it, over 'dead') look of the foliage was what I was after, as i think it kind of goes with the feel of the girls dresses.

I do agree that I think I should try a version with the skin selected out of the filters I used, to keep the skin tone natural.

[Wooglah]

Like the crop on the second, but PP is little bit too much.

[SusanH1970]

I completely agree with the previous posters. It's a great SOOC image, all it needs is a bit of pop. I hope you don't mind me having a play - if you'd rather I didn't, please let me know and I'll take it down.

In CS2:

Cropped, duplicated the layer, set blending mode to "soft light", reduced the opacity to about 50 - 55? (I forget exactly.) Flattened, resized and sharpened slightly.

ETA: Now that I'm seeing it here it looks cooler than it did in CS2. Could maybe add a warming filter at about 10%.

[Indigo November]

I like Susan's edit, "pops" but still looks natural.

[mitchcook]

I would agree that Susan's edit does look better.
I would guess that most people would rather see green grass and natural skin tones than anything else.

I would have went with a shorter focal length or had the camera down more in order to show their shoes, as the extra space at the top seems a little much to me.

[DanaD]

I have to agree with others. colors are too much, the blonde is overexposed or has a highlight on her face. Their skin tones are off. you could make the colors pop by adding just a bit of saturation and some contrast. I hope this was helpful!