Mr. GQ

[thirdxacharm06]

So I took my children out for a shoot in Myrtle Beach for some images for a storyboard to send to my mother and MIL for Mother's day. As a photographer I'm overly critical of my images. As I'm sure most of us are. As with the other images of my kids that I edited this to have a light beachy feel. I know that the moms will like it regardless but I feel like it's still lacking. Would it have looked better with a warmer feel or does this work for it?

Thanks!



Camera Nikon D5000
Exposure 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 400

[czc]

I think a little darker, more defined colors would brighten it up a little. Cute boy and cute shot! I agree also, the Gramma's will love it!

[Niresangwa]

To answer the question specifically asked and neglecting further critique, yes, I think it would work much better if you'd gone warmer.

I feel like you're on the right track by going for a desaturated, pseudo-vintage look, but cooling the image wasn't the direction I would have gone... warmer tones would feel more fitting, especially being such a 'light' image...

[ajax_andy]

I agree with all of the above, I think its far too washed out and doesn't make use of the colourful top he is wearing. A much more punchy colourful version would make this a better shot.

I also think your sky is quite over exposed and makes the young man feel even more washed out.

I'm not sure how good you are with photoshop but decreasing the brightness and adding depth the blacks would help, and then boosting the colours using a Vibrance adjustment layer would help bring this photo to life... also adding a warming photo filter using a "photo filter" layer would make this a nice warm image I feel.

Its good that you're experimenting though, and not just sticking to the tried and trusted methods a lot of people use.

[thirdxacharm06]

Thanks you guys. I'm working with PSE8 right now and still have a LOT to learn. I'll go back and see where I can find the "photo filter" effects and play around with it a little more.

Anything else composition wise that could be improved upon?

[Niresangwa]

Be a little wary of using a straight up warming filter, (not even sure if PSE has that function), they're hit and miss and a blanket application.. sometimes they're great, sometimes they just dull down the shadows.

A more flexible way to do it is to use a colour balance adjustment layer (again, not sure if PSE has this, but I imagine it would)... shadows take them slightly red, midtones very slight red and slight yellow and highlights slight yellow and adjust to taste...

Just be aware that adjusting tones will also affect contrast.

As for the a critique on the rest of the image, I'll have to start with a caveat, that it's just that... im always wary of talking about shots of someone elses kid as theyre going to be emotionally invested in it on two levels... it's their child and their son.

However, the shot really doesn't do anything for me. It's very bland, partly because of the processing, and partly just because there's nothing wrong with it and nothing to draw me in.

It's one of those cases where technically everything is fine, which doesn't necessarily make for an interesting shot. The pull for you, obviously, is that it's your son. There's no real context or dynamic to it. To me, it's just a blonde haired little boy, who is well exposed in an environment that is well exposed...everything is easy to look at, and is doing what it's supposed to do, which makes it very easy to assess and move on from.. does that make sense?

[thirdxacharm06]

Originally Posted by Niresangwa

Be a little wary of using a straight up warming filter, (not even sure if PSE has that function), they're hit and miss and a blanket application.. sometimes they're great, sometimes they just dull down the shadows.

A more flexible way to do it is to use a colour balance adjustment layer (again, not sure if PSE has this, but I imagine it would)... shadows take them slightly red, midtones very slight red and slight yellow and highlights slight yellow and adjust to taste...

Just be aware that adjusting tones will also affect contrast.

As for the a critique on the rest of the image, I'll have to start with a caveat, that it's just that... im always wary of talking about shots of someone elses kid as theyre going to be emotionally invested in it on two levels... it's their child and their son.

However, the shot really doesn't do anything for me. It's very bland, partly because of the processing, and partly just because there's nothing wrong with it and nothing to draw me in.

It's one of those cases where technically everything is fine, which doesn't necessarily make for an interesting shot. The pull for you, obviously, is that it's your son. There's no real context or dynamic to it. To me, it's just a blonde haired little boy, who is well exposed in an environment that is well exposed...everything is easy to look at, and is doing what it's supposed to do, which makes it very easy to assess and move on from.. does that make sense?

Makes sense! Thanks for your input. I checked out your FB page and I like your style. I appreciate your critique. If you've got more give it to me. I'd like to think I've got thick skin. The more you guys point out the more I learn and the better I get.

[AdrenoJunkie]

If you're not real savvy with PS then the easy way to give this image some life is to add a levels adjustment layer and slide the left hand slider(the black one) over to the right til it meets where your histogram starts to rise up. That'll increase your contrast by inreasing the blacks and leaving the whites alone. I gave it a whirl on this image(I can post it if you want) and it made the colors pop some and brought back some of the blue in the sky so it wasn't so washed out. You could also do it with a curves layer by pulling the curve down on the left side. I would stay away from doing a general contrast adjustment because it will also increase the whites which you don't wanna do with this image. I personally dig the cooler lighter feel you were gong for on this, it just needs some punch to bring it to life.

[EOBeav]

Without reading everybody else's comments, here's mine: It's a great pose. He needs to be separated from his background a little better. Some off-camera lighting would have been a huge help here, to brighten him up without unnecessarily brightening the background.

[thirdxacharm06]

Originally Posted by AdrenoJunkie

If you're not real savvy with PS then the easy way to give this image some life is to add a levels adjustment layer and slide the left hand slider(the black one) over to the right til it meets where your histogram starts to rise up. That'll increase your contrast by inreasing the blacks and leaving the whites alone. I gave it a whirl on this image(I can post it if you want) and it made the colors pop some and brought back some of the blue in the sky so it wasn't so washed out. You could also do it with a curves layer by pulling the curve down on the left side. I would stay away from doing a general contrast adjustment because it will also increase the whites which you don't wanna do with this image. I personally dig the cooler lighter feel you were gong for on this, it just needs some punch to bring it to life.

I would love to see your edit.