My Princess

[bbulla]

Hi there,

Purchased a Speedlite over the holidays and I'm finally getting some time in to use it. Posting a photo of my girl and was wondering what could be improved. I've got Photoshop Elements but haven't used it too much, so would like to try a few things, but just not sure where to start. So far I have done nothing to it. This is straight out of the camera. I'd like to fix the bruise on her head and the flash in her eyes, but what else would you suggest?

Any ideas are welcome.



Thanks!

Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: On, Fired

[Alefeb07]

I think this came out pretty well. Like you said the bruise and the flash but other than that i really like this shot!

[FallinWoman]

Love the focus, DOF. I am not crazy about the tongue/chin crop.
If this were mine, I would sharpen the eyes a touch and make the whole thing cooler. Seems like there is a bit too much yellow/orange in the photo.

[bbulla]

Thanks for the comments. I have done no cropping actually. With a 13 month old sometimes it's hard to hit a moving target precisely the way you want. I guess next time, I will zoom out a bit and worry about cropping it afterward.

I will work on the colors and repost.

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by FallinWoman

Love the focus, DOF. I am not crazy about the tongue/chin crop.
If this were mine, I would sharpen the eyes a touch and make the whole thing cooler. Seems like there is a bit too much yellow/orange in the photo.

I agree...also, how exactly did you use the flash? Even with flash, it seems a little underexposed to me. Her eyes are quite dark (the whites are very dark).

[bbulla]

Hi,

I bounced the flash off of the ceiling. I'm still trying to figure out how to use it properly. I didn't want to give her a 'blast' of light and wash her out. Perhaps I need one of those little cards that will still bounce some of the flash forward too.

I see what you mean by the eyes looking dark. I'll see what sort of 'magic' I can figure out in Elements to fix that.

[bbulla]

Hi,

Well here is my edited photo. I used GIMP to adjust the levels and whiten the eyes. I haven't quite figured out how to fix the bruise. Any suggestions on which tools in PSE or GIMP would work best for that?



Also, who do you think the original came out of my camera looking so yellow? Is it a WB issue? I had it set to 'Flash', which is what I was using when i took the picture.

Thanks,

[mosdefjoka]

GREAT pictures budy