Photos for CC

[oliver&sophie]

Hello,
I am fairly new to photography. I have had my dslr for about 3 months now. I am hoping to start my own child photography business in the near future but for now I use my kids as guinea pigs. I am shooting raw, most some days I use Manual but other days AP, when the light is constantly changing and my kids are all over the place. My biggest challenge so far is photoshop. I never know what to do besides USM and using the healing tool for touchups. Could you recommend a basic tutorial for bringing out the color the best and please give me some cc. Thanks.

1.

2.

I know I cut her fingers off on this one.

3.

4.

5.

6.

 

[tirediron]

C&C per req:

1. Not fond of the expression; the child looks very nervous, and the skin has a distinctly green caste.

2. over-bright highlights on her right side (image left) and she's looking the wrong way. You need her looking toward the camera; not necessarily right at it, but toward it. As well, excessive DoF has created a very distracting background, and that one branch, middle right, looks like it's poking her in the head, and causing her to lean away.

3. Quite nice, but I'm not fond of the "mugshot" profile. I'd recommend a more 3/4 aspect. I like the clover. Skin in this one seems very cold.

4. Not bad, but the chair appears to be leaning to image right.

5. Sorry, don't get this one at all.

6. Nice catchlights in the eyes, but the overall exposure is harsh and the subject is too far to the right and looking away (per #2). I'd recommend a diffuser on your right/center light, and a reflector image left to even up the exposure.

Overall, some nice work, but with a few areas for improvement, IMO before you're ready for the big time. I'm not a child photographer, and there are some truly excellent ones on this 'site, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

Just my $00.02 worth - your milage may vary.

~John

 

[jenn76]

If you don't have the Photoshop Bible by Deke McClelland, I highly recommend it. I got it on half.com for like $10. It's great for ideas and processes.

 

[tkaat]

well I personally just type in what kind of effect I want into google along with CS3 tutorial
but I usually use this website click the most when in a hurry for help and also http://www.sxc.hu/tutorials ( but you have to look through these on this website)

BTW if you find the top banner annoying in the first link and have firefox all you have to do is right-click on the part of the page that has the tutorial go to the this frame menu and click on show only this frame

 

[oliver&sophie]

Thanks Tirediron. I asked for cc and you answered. I agree there are some blown highlights. I don't have a reflector as of yet. I feel these could be improved when I become better at photoshop and in time I will get better with sooc shots. I know I am not ready for a business as of yet but I have been getting many requests to do some sessions. Free of course and they will be learning experiences for me. The only thing I would disagree on is my compositions, I like them. Especially number 5. I guess to each his own. Thanks for the comments.

 

[tirediron]

Thanks Tirediron. I asked for cc and you answered. I agree there are some blown highlights. I don't have a reflector as of yet. I feel these could be improved when I become better at photoshop and in time I will get better with sooc shots. I know I am not ready for a business as of yet but I have been getting many requests to do some sessions. Free of course and they will be learning experiences for me. The only thing I would disagree on is my compositions, I like them. Especially number 5. I guess to each his own. Thanks for the comments.

Reflectors are as close as the nearest dollar store. Big pieces of white or light-yellow posterboard or foam-core make excellent reflectors. As far as photoshop goes, yes, knowledge of the basic tools is important, but getting it right in the camera is far more so. A bad shot will take you 30 seconds to compose and an hour to post process. A great shot will take five minutes to compose and five minutes to post-process... Somehow I like the math in that second one a whole lot better!

With respect to the compositions, I suspect that the comments from some of those more skilled in that area will be far more beneficial to you; I can only comment on what appeals to me, not what the public seems to enjoy.

Good luck; looking forward to seeing more.

 

[oliver&sophie]

Thanks I will have to go to my nearest dollar store now. Also, sometimes with kids you don't have 5 minutes and you take what you can get. At least with my kids.

 

[tirediron]

Thanks I will have to go to my nearest dollar store now. Also, sometimes with kids you don't have 5 minutes and you take what you can get. At least with my kids.

May I suggest valium and duct-tape?

 

[oliver&sophie]

I don't know about the valium, maybe I will give the duct tape a try.
I usually use candy though.

 

[manaheim]

^^^ my kids are like that. I should try to get a picture of the expression on my wife's face a lot of the time. It's a combination of amusement, love, bewilderment, frustration and exhaustion.

 

[LynziMarie]

May I suggest valium and duct-tape?

hahaha you are crazy


I really like these, actually!! But, I'm not exactly the one to trust with C&C... I'm about as noob as it gets. However, I like the fact that they are different than other kid photos... it can get kind of boring with the same thing over and over (unless you know the kid0

 

[oliver&sophie]

Thanks LynziMarie. I like different shots as well. I am not into super posed shots. I prefer to capture kids in their own enviroment and not pose them.