Photo Editing Attempt

[dostagamom]

I am new to photography and editing and was wondering if you all could give me tips on how to edit better. I have attached the original picture and the edited one. I am using Paint Shop Pro because this program is much cheaper than Photoshop and I just wanted something to play around with right now. I would eventually love to purchase Photoshop when I am more experienced. Thank you in advance for helping me out!!

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa102/dostagamom/100_1215.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa102/dostagamom/drewandbaileesitting2.jpg

 

[crownlaurel]

You may want to try editing your post and pasting the IMG (bottom code) code instead of the URL link. I'd help you out there, but your URL didn't link and it cut off part of it so I can't cut and paste.

 

[dostagamom]

Here are the pictures. Sorry!

 

[crownlaurel]

Cute kids. Let me preface by saying you did a better job than I could, which is why I hate the clone thing. If I look closely I can see a pattern in the grass where you've removed the dog. I'd bet anyone who didn't see the original probably would't notice.


BTW, (and OT) has the smoke cleared down there?

 

[dostagamom]

Yes I do see the pattern. It is so hard to do!!!

About the smoke...it has not been too bad the past week because of the rain that we got...thank goodness. Thank you for asking.

 

[pk_101]

nice job :]] i still cant really see the pattern very well so i dont think thats a factor but overall nice :]

 

[L. Wood]

For being a beginner editor you have done a wonderful job with the cloning. It is VERY difficult to clone that much area and have it look completely normal. What I do not love is the glowing filter that you have used over the entire photo. Your children are beautiful and it takes away from their wonderful faces when you haze out the detail. An action that I love and that comes from a free photo editing program, is soft focus. The program is called Picasa, and you just Google that and it will lead you to the free download. Anyway, with the soft focus you can choose to leave your children's faces in focus and then blurr everything else. Only the weaker areas of the picture need blurring. Good luck.

 

[JIP]

I can't see the pattern either and I tried to find it. I do agree though you need to get rid of that hazy filter also, i would try to fix your white balance or the contrast or something the picture looks washed out. Overall I think it is a nice image though.

 

[dostagamom]

Thank you so much for all of your comments. I really appreciate them. I agree with the fact that the "glow" is a little much. I will try turning it down or just blurring the outside edges of the picture. That might also take care of the slight pattern in the cloning. Thanks again!!!

 

[The_Traveler]

I agree with the others.
I might suggest cropping even more.
Right now, the brightest thing in the image is the sunlit spots on the baby's legs - and there's really no way to fix that.
Also, you have large areas of grass that do nothing for the image.

Cropping much tighter would remove a lot of the excess and leave you with the childrens' faces more towards the third line (see Rule of Thirds)

Maybe boost the red saturation a little.

 

[tataencu]

i agree with The_Traveller about cropping even more and one more thing.
The overall glow filter isn't that good. You could try duplicating the layer with the photo, blurring the bottom layer a lot, and then changing the opacity of the upper layer a little (set it to about 75% or so) to achieve the effect of a Soft-Focus filter, 'cause that might do better.

Example (8px gaussian blur on bottom layer, 75% opacity on upper layer):

 

[dostagamom]

Those edits look really good. I am still new to the layer thing and I have not really figured that one out. I will practice so that I can achieve those same results. I really like both of the edits. The reason that I did not crop in tighter is because I did not want to cut off their feet, but I see now that it looks great. Thank you Traveler and Tataence

 

[The_Traveler]

I did not want to cut off their feet, but I see now that it looks great.

I think that's an important point you're making. Sometimes one has to do something that might not be the best action in itself but is better for that particular picture overall.

Good start, nice models.

Lew

 

[Kathleen]

This is just a my thought, blurring the background. Done rather quickly, so I lost some of the detail on the ribbon. More time and patience this would have been much better.

 

[tataencu]

Kathleen offered you another concept, which some might find usable or even beautiful, but with which i have to argue. Because, at least from my point of view, the halo created near the subject(s) is not exactly what it's "right" for the picture. But that's only subjective and it's my $.02

Anyway, i am looking forward to see how you manage to edit it

George.