Unedited Ella

[ChloeEWoods]

My friend likes to model for me and I like any practice I can get. This is just a picture that I liked from the shoot and I was wondering if editing was needed and if so what would you guys suggest?

[fais54]

I think you're supposed to post your EXIF data

But, I honestly think it looks fine. Obviously, you can play around with it however you like but nothing really stands out to me that needs improving. The exposure/composition looks good to me. I also like the wallpaper...it gives the photo a quirky feel.

Nice one.

[ChloeEWoods]

Thank you for the input! I'm not very good at editing, so I don't use it often. Just wondering if there was anything I could add!

[autofocus]

I think you have to work on posing your subjects Chloe. Straight on shots like this are simply not very interesting. She looks a little tense in front of the camera too. Sorry, I know this was not what you were looking for.

[zona5101]

it's a little soft in focus

[Doug Sundseth]

Before I could suggest edits, I'd need to know what you're trying to show with the photo -- record of a time in your friend's life, glamour, edgy and dangerous, whatever. Different goals need different treatment. (Ideally, that goal should also inform your lighting and posing as well.)

[ChloeEWoods]

Well, the expression she has in this photo is a common one that she gives when she's been thinking - In regards to why she's posed that way. And I liked that fais54 said that the background adds a quirky touch, definitely what I was going for. I guess I wanted way to add more of a thoughtful look to it..? I've done some experimenting with Photoshop, but I'm no expert. Just wondering if there were any tips

[High_Speed]

What Doug said, we would need to know what your plans were. Do you want to add some "digital makeup" to her or leave her alone, for starters? Either way is fine, just a choice. She may like it, she may not.

As for the composition, at least it's not straight on, and I do kind of like the wallpaper look behind her.

It is a bit soft on the focus, and unfortunately not much can be done about that. Personally, I think it's a bit underexposed, so maybe brighten it up a bit.

Also, I've taken the liberty to brighten up and sharpen up her eyes, which can tend to allow the viewer to forget about the softness.

Here's two versions I did up in Photoshop. One with and one without a little extra "digital makeup."

[Doug Sundseth]

Posing, expression, background -- none of that stuff is something you can affect much with an edit. (Barring a real composite, which is beyond what I would think of as an "edit".)

You can recrop, you can smooth out the skin, you can clone out things that bother you, you can adjust contrast or color (locally or generally). But which of those things you might want to do depends on the effect you're trying for.

High_Speed's examples are good ones. Either one could be a response to "what should I edit", as could any number of other examples. If you're trying to record a time in your friend's life, you'll probably want to go lighter on your edits than if you're trying to emulate the cover of a glamour magazine. You could edit for a surreal effect, or a blown-out, high-key effect, or a moody noir effect.

Ideally, you should try to decide where you're trying to go before you start the car.

[carlyfan]

I love the look of this image! The lighting looks good, her expression is intriguing to me, and I like the wallpaper in the background. The only thing I really don't like is that her eyes are not sharp. It looks like the focus fell on her earring. To me, this portrait is all about the eyes, and nailing the focus on the eyes would make it so much stronger.

As far as editing, I would just add some contrast and maybe bump the exposure up a bit like High_Speed did in his edits.

What focal length did you shoot at? I looks kind of wide to me, and I like the little bit of distortion! I really like it, what ever it is!

Aside from the focus, I absolutely love it!

Lisa