WB/PP Help

[RandiE]

So..I've had my camera for a little over a year now..for the last six months I've really tried to improve..I mainly just have my kids to practice on..a few friends that don't mind bringing their kids to humor me..anyways..I've been stalking this site for a couple months now..and was pretty reluctant to do this..but..here goes..

This is a snapshot of my nephew..since its just that..I'm not worried about the crop..or the composition..kinda not worried about the focus either..cause they were just playing around on the trampoline..but I just don't seem to have an eye for lighting, WB, and I tend to go over board with the post processing..period..I guess I just don't know whats supposed to look good!

So..my questions are..did I get close to the correct WB?..how is the lighting?..too much PP?..and is it a good idea to practice on snapshots..or should I really try to take overall good portraits to improve?..and feel free to comment on anything else you see..just wanna add that I only have Lightroom 3..thanks in advance!!



Exif
Nikon D5000
150mm
f/5
1/200
ISO-200

Heres a link to the Before

[JFSanders]

First lightroom 3 is plenty of post processing power. Second, don't worry about the critiques as they can't physically hurt you. Sticks and stones and all that.

Third, Lighting is 90 percent of your image more or less. So if I were you, I would get books that deal with the triangle of image making. ISO, SS and Aperture. These are all related and change as one or more of the others are changed. Think of it like a triangle where you can push the corners around to change the ratios. When they are set correctly your image will be exposed to the fullest extent allowed by the sensor and software engine in the camera and a well developed scene will be recorded. Now that scene may be a snapshot or a masterpiece and that will be determined by how you see the scene and how you set up the camera to record it.

The little guy has been over processed to the point that his teeth are glowing. Not natural to the eye and will be distracting to the viewer. This may have a beginning in your monitor that you are using to edit and develop your images. Laptop monitors are generally pretty bad for image work. So make sure you have a stand alone monitor such as the Dell 2410 and that it is properly calibrated so that the colors are rendered truthfully. This will make a huge difference in how your images develop out of PP.

Click on the image below and compare to yours.


Jim