any hope for this picture?

[Anne12343]

Or should I dump the batch I took? Unfortunately, I forgot and left my D90 on "vivid" and I know the pics were taken at mid-day, but there was no other time to take them. So, the skin tones are very red and the pic is underexposed. Should I dump the whole batch or try to work out editing in Photoshop, where I have very little experience?
Does anyone think this pic is salvagable? Can anyone fix it for me and let me know if I should bother editing or not? Thanks, everyone. I just love your site.

[mandyatm]

Is this your child? I would certainly not say dump it, it is a cute picture of her even if not technically perfect! I forget that sometimes with my own kids. Instead of seeing the moment, I see what I could have done differently, which takes away from the whole meaning of a photograph.

That said, if it were my picture, I would have tried to include the whole shoe. The exposure is not that bad, especially for midday sun. You could decrease the saturation on her skin and clothes, or leave it, looks kinda cool. It's a cute pic.

[autofocus]

I beleive there is hope...gave it a quick adjustment or two in Photoshop, along with a minor crop to get that little bit of pier out of the top left corner

[Anne12343]

Thanks, I tried Photoshop, but it just does not look good. I just wonder if someone could give me some tips on using less saturation, etc. I agree with the cropping, but the exposure is terrible. Is there anyone who can do this for me so I can see there is some hope for all my pics? Thanks!

[Anne12343]

By the way, this is my precious grandchild.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Anne12343

Thanks, I tried Photoshop, but it just does not look good. I just wonder if someone could give me some tips on using less saturation, etc. I agree with the cropping, but the exposure is terrible. Is there anyone who can do this for me so I can see there is some hope for all my pics? Thanks!

Anne, what do you want...someone to do it for you, (like I did above) or all the steps involved? This was done on a calibrated monitor, BTW

Vince

[SusanH1970]

I had a quick play. In CS2, I did a shadows/highlights adjustment. Then I brought up levels and slide the middle slider to the left to brighten the midtones. Lastly I went to adjustments -->selective color and selected reds and pulled out some magenta and a bit of yellow to fix her skin tones a bit. It's not perfect, but you get the idea.

If you shoot in RAW, adjustments like this are a LOT easier to deal with. Just a good thing to keep in mind.

Cute pic!

[outamyway]

You could always make it B&W.

[Athas_orm]

What exactly is it that you like and dislike about the picture. You want it brighter? And less red is that it exactly?

Do you have a picture where your happy with her skin tone so we can see what her actual skin tone is?

[archersdad]

Do you have a RAW file for the photo?