Moving around heads - 11 kids

[ReflectingGrace]

Im so scared to post in here so be nice - but honest

I took this picture for the grandparents pictured. These are their 11 kids, several of which usually live outside the state, so this was a rare opportunity.

The kids were typical kids and nearly every picture has someone doing something weird. So I ended up needing to "photoshop" (GIMP actually) some better expressions in.

Can you tell which ones? There are 3 One is obvious. Its the whole body actually. Any tips on how to make it blend better are appreciated! I know that grandma wants a large print and Im nervous!

any other thoughts on my PP are appreciated. the picture was underexposed so I warmed it up by using levels/curves and adding some yellow and red in.



Nikon D80, 50mm 1.8 lens
f 5.0
1/20 (too slow)

[ReflectingGrace]

ok 19 people have looked at this.....if its not obvious, i guess thats a good thing?

the boy on the far camera-left is completely replaced. does he look brighter than everyone else? or does it fit ok?

the other two are the girl in blue and the little boy on the far camera-right.

any opinions on my work are welcome! thanks!

[utsc2006]

I think you did a wonderful job. I couldn't tell which ones you replaced.

[ReflectingGrace]

thanks i guess its really bugging me that the boy on the left looks so different. the shot i took him from is less sharp so he stands out to me. but maybe its just because i know???

[aspencade]

Its an excellent job....I didnt respond before as I was not sure which ones were altered.....Paul

[Murtasma]

I think you did a great job, I can't really tell but the largest version you have online is still pretty small to pick out small details. I could probably tell who was replaced or changed if I had access to a larger version. From my initial look at the image it's very hard to tell so I think what you have done is more then sufficient and any mistakes are probably small and nitpicking.

[SandeeWig]

Hi Rachel!

Another great image of all the kids, this time w/ Grandma and Grandpa too! How awesome!

I think you did a totally fabulous job on the face replacements; can't tell at all even looking at the large version.

As far as the boy on the left...the one and only thing that stands out to me is where his left leg and the boy's toes next to him touch. I don't know how it would look to have the toes "in front of" the leg, but that seems to be the way my eyes want to see it.

That being said...unless they scour every pixel in the image, they probably would not even notice it.

[ReflectingGrace]

aimee - you are so helpful! thank you, there is definitely an issue there with the feet. ill work on it.

thanks everyone for your opinion! it helps a lot!

[daddyoproductions]

I've done my share of cutting and pasting and I found the boy on the end no problem; he just isn't as sharp as the others. People who are not photographers may not even notice, though it might be more noticeable in the larger size. I didn't pick out the face transplants, though, so well done!

[zebthepilot]

probably underexposed originally because they're all wearing white. at first glance all I could think was, that woman looks like paula deen. hmm, anyway.

So, the replaced kid did jump out at me. the levels aren't quite the same and at further look, there is some blur on his leg. I have guesses about the other changes, but nothing that I could guarantee. but considering the time I've spent picking out photo manipulations, you did a really nice job with it. I doubt most would notice.

so, one question... based on the highlights on the leaves on the left, I would have picked it for daytime. but 1/20th on a prime lens at f5? that's pretty dang slow and you said it was underexposed? might bump up that iso next time

oh. and back to the underexposure... I just looked at the exif via flickr. the shot could have been underexposed regardless since they're wearing all wearing white. but because you're metering is/was set to center weighted average, and there is a ton of white in the center of that photo.. the effect was worse. I'd venture that an evaluative meter mode might expose it closer to correct.


anyway, nice shot. and good p'shop work in gimp