Trying to save this shot...

[mandyatm]

I don't know what I was thinking picking this spot. It was backlit so the background was blown out and the subjects were very underexposed. Seriously, don't know what I was thinking. Anyway, I tried to save it. I can't believe I got it this far, but it still looks weird to me. Does it look okay now or is it just me? Any comments welcome.



50mm
f/5
1/80 sec
ISO 100

[dlambert]

I'm not sure if I'm seeing the effects of post-processing, but it looks like the people were shot against a backdrop and photoshopped into the scene. If you've got the people on their own layer, can you feather it a little so they don't "pop" off the background quite as starkly? (not sure if that'll work, but it's a guess)

[klam]

Exposure isn't bad but not great, IMO.

What would be a great improvement is eye contact from the father and his two daughters. Good chance that can be fixed in photoshop.

[mandyatm]

Originally Posted by dlambert

I'm not sure if I'm seeing the effects of post-processing, but it looks like the people were shot against a backdrop and photoshopped into the scene. If you've got the people on their own layer, can you feather it a little so they don't "pop" off the background quite as starkly? (not sure if that'll work, but it's a guess)

Yeah, I think the same thing, I was hoping it was just me.

[mandyatm]

Originally Posted by klam

Exposure isn't bad but not great, IMO.

What would be a great improvement is eye contact from the father and his two daughters. Good chance that can be fixed in photoshop.

The exposure was horrible before I adjusted it. Absolutely horrible.

The sad thing is, this is MY family. I tried to hire another photographer and 2 turned me down because I was a "competitor." One booked me, then cancelled my session right before. So I gave up, set my camera up and had a friend push the button while another got the kids' attention. I can never get my little one to cooperate, and we all looked decent here (I could care less about the eye contact, she wasn't arching her back and screaming so this is awesome to me). It isn't my friend's fault obviously, as I picked the spot and set my camera settings. I finally get a good shot of all of us and I, the supposed photographer, screwed it up!

Anyway, thanks for the comments!!!

[mandyatm]

Oh, and I edited it by processing the background in raw separate from us, then combining the 2 images. I used the layer masks to mask out the background. This is why we look pasted on.


Once I looked on the back of my camera I realized this was going to be an issue, and we quickly moved to another spot. I normally would have thrown this out if it were for a client, but since I am the "client" and I have seen it, of course I want to fix it!

[Niresangwa]

I think you're worrying too much.

Bump the contrast slightly and increase the vibrance.

I think the biggest issue looking at this size image is that you can see the 'halo' where you were clumsy with the masking. It almost looks like you had one image and used an adjustment layer then erased it to brighten them. If youre in CS5 add a warming filter adjustment layer and see how it looks around 20-25%

Try a colour burn around those halos, but increasing the contrast will help with that.

Again, I can't get a feel for how terrible it is in a higher res, but aside from the halo-ing which is an easy fix and a bump in colour, it isnt too bad

[mandyatm]

Originally Posted by Niresangwa

I think you're worrying too much.

Bump the contrast slightly and increase the vibrance.

I think the biggest issue looking at this size image is that you can see the 'halo' where you were clumsy with the masking. It almost looks like you had one image and used an adjustment layer then erased it to brighten them. If youre in CS5 add a warming filter adjustment layer and see how it looks around 20-25%

Try a colour burn around those halos, but increasing the contrast will help with that.

Again, I can't get a feel for how terrible it is in a higher res, but aside from the halo-ing which is an easy fix and a bump in colour, it isnt too bad

Thanks! I printed an 8x10 and the quality is fine other than the halo effect/looking like we are pasted on, lol. I used a lot of masks to get to this and I think that is the problem, I was definitely clumsy with it. I will try to start over and be much more careful. I am not sure what a color burn is? I would like to try that.

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by mandyatm

I am not sure what a color burn is? I would like to try that.

Just select the brush tool then go to the drop-down (it will say 'normal' by default). Use the dropper tool to select the colour of the tree/shrub/undergrowth (should be a darker colour) near the head and select an appropriate brush size, set the opacity to about 5% and colout over the halo, which should burn it down...

of course do it on a copied layer, and then if you over-do it you can just adjust the opacity and have some fine tuning ability...

[klam]

Group portraits are challenging enough and adding kids to the mix makes it that much more of a challenge. If you had several images you can still swap in the the heads that has good expression and eye contact.

Too bad for the other photogs for not taking your business, their loss.

Reminds me of a commercial from microsoft when the mom just swapped in the heads from the other photos to create the perfect family portrait where everyone is smiling, behaving, and looking at the camera. "to the cloud"

Originally Posted by mandyatm

The exposure was horrible before I adjusted it. Absolutely horrible.

The sad thing is, this is MY family. I tried to hire another photographer and 2 turned me down because I was a "competitor." One booked me, then cancelled my session right before. So I gave up, set my camera up and had a friend push the button while another got the kids' attention. I can never get my little one to cooperate, and we all looked decent here (I could care less about the eye contact, she wasn't arching her back and screaming so this is awesome to me). It isn't my friend's fault obviously, as I picked the spot and set my camera settings. I finally get a good shot of all of us and I, the supposed photographer, screwed it up!

Anyway, thanks for the comments!!!