in a daze

[lyndajean]

my poor hubby gets so sick of being my experimental model!! haha .. although I personally like this pic of him from a wife's viewpoint (with the exception of the ciggarette hanging from his mouth) - i feel like it lacks something from a photographers viewpoint. any input on how to improve is welcomed.. composition, the "thirds" rule , anything.


18mm
F/4.5
1/200 sec
ISO 200
No Flash (it was overcast and outdoors)

only editing was i slightly upped the brightness and converted to B&W. - i should mention that i do not have photo shop, but should be getting it soon. if anyone wants to edit and repost i'd be interested to see what you can do, so long as you tell me how you did it!!

Thanks everyone

[lputman]

It appears a little flat to me. There needs a bit more contrast. What editing program are you using? There's a light growing from his head. I might be inclined to crop that space out that is camera right. Do you have an original that you can share? It's much better to try to assist with editing when working from an unedited version. If you do, why don't you post one to flickr, or other photo sharing site, so that a bigger size can be downloaded. I'm certain folks would love to play with the photo.

[RLucas]

I'll second what Lori said, with the addition of the post on the railing. It would be a nice leading line if the post wasn't in the way. It also looks like more of the focus fell on that particular post as well. I dig the cigarette! I smoke, so I can say that!

[lyndajean]

Originally Posted by lputman

It appears a little flat to me. There needs a bit more contrast. What editing program are you using? There's a light growing from his head. I might be inclined to crop that space out that is camera right. Do you have an original that you can share? It's much better to try to assist with editing when working from an unedited version. If you do, why don't you post one to flickr, or other photo sharing site, so that a bigger size can be downloaded. I'm certain folks would love to play with the photo.

Hi Lori.. I have "Kodak Easy Share" wich has limited editing tools before uploading to kodak for printing. not the best, but gets the basics done!

here's a link to the original on flickr... enjoy!! i cant wait to see what you guys can come up with... and remember to please tell me how & what you did so i can learn

Original | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[lputman]

I will give it a whirl when I get home from work and have access to my "tools".

You have a few options for a bit more advanced photo editing. You could download GIMP, it is free. For me, it does have a steep learning curve, but it is a very good tool.

Of course, there's the Adobe product line, all have free 30 day trials.
For less than $100, Photoshop Elements can be purchased. Many folks never use anything else.
Then, the big boy, Photoshop CS5. Depending upon your situation, you might be able to get academic discounts on this tool. [I have children in high school, so I received a discount but not as much as a higher education student]
If you want a great tool for organizing and editing, Lightroom is awesome. My workflow now consists of mostly editing in Lightroom and only using Photoshop for things that need a little more detail work.

[lputman]

Here's a quick edit...I removed the pole from his head area using the clone tool. I did an adjustment layer, channel mixer" and played with the values until I got something that I liked.

4866092554_b5eb7e41e0_b.jpg

[edbayani]

here is what i did. adjusted with levels, the color image. duplicated it and made a new layer on top of the duplicate, set the blending mode to color,and filled it with black to make it into a b&w. merged the black layer with the layer below it. adjusted the contrast a bit more with levels. removed the poles and the person behind him, cropped and flattened.