Sweet little boy...should I edit or not??

[photomom2008]

Still learning....last night I got to do a practice photo session with some family members. I think they turned out pretty good, but was wondering about post processing. This picture is straight of the camera! I am not sure if I need to edit it or not. I think the exposure is pretty good and the composition but that was my opinion. I am not sure if the photo needed lightened, contrast, or any other suggestions would be helpful. I am new to all of this. If I put this in the wrong category please let me know or feel free to move it. I just wasn't sure where to put it.

From Jersey & Lane

EXIF
Camera: Canon
Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi
ISO: 400
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: 8.0
Focal Length: 50mm
Flash Used: No

[dcclark]

Very cute photo!

The main thing I notice, which you may want to edit, is the very bright glare on the rail in the background. That's bright enough to distract me. You may want to tone that down, or slightly dodge his face to bring the attention back there.

[Digidave]

In my opinion, this photo needs more contrast to separate the subject from the background. That rail going through your subject is bad, very bad! I would crop it tighter also. Taking out some of the unneeded background.

Camera: Canon
Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XSi
ISO: 400
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: 8.0
Focal Length: 50mm
Flash Used: No

Not sure why you chose f/8 for an aperture. You could have used f/5.6(one stop down) & went with an ISO of 200 instead of 400 or taken your shutter speed up to 1/400th. Which will come in handy when you don't have a friendly subject(antsy kids). Generally speaking, you want to use larger apertures(Smaller f/number) in order to blur the background. This, along with contrast, will separate your subject quite well from it's background. Hope I'm not being too picky here.

[photomom2008]

Thank you dcclark and digidave! I am not sure how to tone down the rails but the crop I think looks much better. I haven't used the dodge tool much but I tried it and it looked kinda bright, I will keep working on it. I did work on his eyes a little bit. What do you think of this...

From Jersey & Lane

[dcclark]

I like the crop, but I have to be honest... spoooooky eyes!

You can adjust the amount which the dodge (or burn) tools dodge (or burn). You may want to try them at a somewhat lower level.

[AnneWynne]

I agree that the eyes look unnatural. Are you doing your adjustments on layers? If so, remember you can adjust the opacity of the layer itself, and you can erase the layer (or use a layer mask???) over areas you do not want to apply changes to. I liked the fuller body in the original, but I think it could benefit from cropping out the horizon change at the top of the photo. I would also like to see the face a little brighter, but without brightening the hair that already has a very bright area in it.

Cute photo, cute kid. Looks good sooc, but I think some changes will amp it up a lot.

Anne

[framed]

The main thing I notice is the haze. There's an "offset" setting under exposure in CS4 that I am learning to love. It tones down the haze in those outdoor pictures shot in the harsh sunlight. I also pushed the exposure up just a bit and sharpened it 30%. As far as the rail being bright - well that's because all detail is blown out and there is absolutely nothing that can be done about that.