Need help!

[dellis]

I am no pro at Photoshop CS3! What suggestions are out there to make this picture look more professional?

Thanks!

[carl yeomans]

[QUOTE

I am no pro at Photoshop CS3! What suggestions are out there to make this picture look more professional?

Thanks![/QUOTE]

Ok, ill have a stab at it. Id sugest a reshoot, why. photoshop cant fix out of focus faces. You could then set the white/B to the correct setting. It looks like you used constant lighting, Yes/no? . USe a tighter crop and fill the frame if your going to use that black background, i think there is to much dead space and not framed correctly. also, i find it unflattering to see big arms on a woman, maybe you could ask her to wear a cardigan. Sorry if i came across to strong, words are my strong point.

Carl.

[constructivecriticism]

Originally Posted by carl yeomans

Id sugest a reshoot

I think all the issues you've listed can be fixed in post-processing. I agree with the White Balance, which can be fixed in Photoshop, and as far as the issue of how much skin to show, you could simply crop from dude's right shoulder over to halfway on her arm.

If you wish to come off as more professional, involved more lighting/reflectors to light up any undesirable shadows on their faces. Also consider a higher vantage point to avoid too much of a chin.

Just my $.02

[carl yeomans]

Originally Posted by constructivecriticism

I think all the issues you've listed can be fixed in post-processing. I agree with the White Balance, which can be fixed in Photoshop, and as far as the issue of how much skin to show, you could simply crop from dude's right shoulder over to halfway on her arm.

If you wish to come off as more professional, involved more lighting/reflectors to light up any undesirable shadows on their faces. Also consider a higher vantage point to avoid too much of a chin.

Just my $.02

I agree, but photoshop isnt gonna fix out of focus faces, hence a reshoot. so while your doing the reshoot you might as well fix your mistakes at the time of shooting rather than later , yes/no?.

[Benji]

Originally Posted by dellis

I am no pro at Photoshop CS3! What suggestions are out there to make this picture look more professional?

Thanks!

Great expressions, but I suggest a reshoot as others have also suggested, but this time:

1. NO SHORT SLEEVES. Look at the gals arms (how can you miss them.) Now imagine had she been in a long sleeved dark sweater or blouse. Then the only skin to attract our eyes would be their faces. Where should we be looking in a portrait? At their faces.

2. Matching clothing. No stripes, checks, plaids or paisley. Dark solid colored clothing will force our eyes to look at what? Their faces! Where should we be looking when looking at a portrait? Their faces.

3. Her mouth should be at the same level as his eyes. All four eyes straight across is boring.

4. Proper white balance. Shoot a grey card first.

5. Both of them should be turned at a 45 degree angle to the camera. Flat on poses work only one thin people and even then it doesn't always work.

6. No hand growing out of shoulders poses.

7. A hair light would seperate their dark hair from the dark background.

8. If this is an engagement shot the ring should show more clearly.

Benji

[Nocojoe]

Okay, let me give a stab at this in case this isn't a shot that is able to be reshot. Sometimes we have those shots that are precious and for whatever reason don't turn out well, and we can't got back and reshoot the image.

The most glaring thing to me is the color. I eyeballed this and it appeared that there was a yellow and slight green color cast. This can be viewed in the info pallette when you see the values for RGB, CMYK, or LAB. So how to correct this? There are many ways. One of the easier ways is to create a new layer. Then click image/adjustments/color balance.

[Nocojoe]

Sorry, i didn't want to lose the information I wrote.

So when inside of color balance, increase the blue midtones and highlights a little bit to get rid of that yellow cast. Then go to the shadows and increase the magenta little to get rid of that green cast underneath the man's chin.

It takes a little while, but if you play around with it this way you can get a pretty good looking image and get rid of some of those color casts.

That is one simple way to dramatically increase the color of this picture. I hope this helps you.