Pale Grandson....

[OK_to_Point]

My grandson has blonde hair and is very pale. Alot of my shots of him appear off due to him being so pale. I've tried adjusting curves, levels, hues,etc. Most times the colors look right except for his skin. Anyone have any ideas on how to improve this? Here's an example of what I mean.....
0.017 sec (1/60)
f/4.0
21 mm
ISO 400
Flash fired......EV 0

[zona5101]

even though he's a fair skinned lad, i think this image is a bit overexposed. Plus the direct flash is giving you a higher amount of reflection exacerbating the washed out look.

[autofocus]

Select his face with the magic wand tool and make some adjustments in Levels, and add a little red with the red slider

[OK_to_Point]

Thanks for the replys.......I did a selection of just his face and applied a level adjustment and then I did another selection layer and multiplied it, lowered the opacity and it looked alot better. Thanks for the ideas.....sometimes you know something isn't quite right but it's hard to put your finger on it

[kristenh]

i'm not sure if you want just post processing advice or more general advice, but i'll offer the latter. my kids are similar in coloring and flash photography just about never works with the on camera flash. i have been holding a tissue in front of the flash with good effect (low tech i admit). or i get the kids right near a window and use window light. 90% of my good portraits of my kids are outdoors. he's a cute kid, though. at first i couldn't see him b/c spiderman was in the way

[morsm]

Hi,

I'm (also) inclined to think that the direct flash may be your problem. I took a look at your photostream and saw several pictures of the same cute kid, with good skin tone and feature detail.
I think if you bounce your flash off the ceiling or a (white) wall, you will get better results!

[OK_to_Point]

Thanks for the help guys.....I should have known better, to bounce the flash or hold a paper in front of the flash. Most times it's a spur of the moment shot.....he does something and I grab the camera. I need to have a tissue ready too. I appreciate the help.......