Pre/Post PS, tell me what you think...

[LeeLeeMelis]

Hey there, I'm really working on my post processing techniques. The first one is the original image and the second is my idea of what a good post processed image should look. I lightened the image, boosted the saturation, and selectivley dodged the eyes to try and make them pop more. I know the original image is dark but let me know what you think I should/shouldnt have done and what you would do to make this image effective. Thanks!

 

[Trenton Romulox]

I think the kid on the right needs to brush his teeth

But seriously, the post-PS one is definitely a lot better, the pre-PS one is just too dark for my tastes.

 

[John_05]

i agree that the second looks better, but on my monitor (its old, so it may just be the monitor) it looks a little hazy?

if its ok with you, i wouldnt mind trying an edit on it. i know it says your photos are OK to edit, but with a picture like that, i would rather ask first.

 

[LeeLeeMelis]

thanks for asking, go ahead and show me your edit. Please tell me what you did though I really want to get better at photoshop. Heres another question, what is sharpening in USM mean?

 

[heip]

I opened up with curves, brightened the teeth, opened up a little more on the face of the boy on the left, softened it overall then sharpened it.

 

[LeeLeeMelis]

Great work! Thanks for helping me out!

 

[heip]

Not a problem, I like the practice.

 

[NJMAN]

The edit by heip is awesome! It brought some needed contrast into the image as well.

USM means unsharp mask, which can be found in photoshop under Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask. This allows you to control sharpening much better than if you were to use an "auto" sharpen.

NJ

 

[John_05]

thanks for asking, go ahead and show me your edit. Please tell me what you did though I really want to get better at photoshop. Heres another question, what is sharpening in USM mean?

i dont use Photoshop, so im not sure if it has the same tools as what i do use, PaintShop Pro X.

i used the clarify tool to get rid of the hazy look, increased the saturation a little bit (10), whitened the teeth, sharpened the eyes very slightly, bumped up the contrast a little (12), and then used the noise removal tool (35).

after that, i opened the picture in the trial version of LightZone 3 i downloaded and lightened the shadows in their faces and lightened the dark spots around the eyes.

after saving again, i opened it in PaintShop Pro again and decreased the brightness a small amount, sharpened the entire image, and then used the soften tool on a couple spots around the knees and on the boy on the rights neck to get rid of some noise i got from sharpening the entire image, and saved it.

i did the edits last night at 4am, so i may have forgotten a step or 2. it looks a tiny bit smooth IMO, but adding a little bit of noise might help it look a little better.

 

[LeeLeeMelis]

After all of the help I have been graciously given on this image this is what I have come up with. Let me know what you think and if you think certain areas should be changed. I messed with Curves a bit but it's going to take me some time to get used to that tool so this was done with levels.

 

[NJMAN]

After all of the help I have been graciously given on this image this is what I have come up with. Let me know what you think and if you think certain areas should be changed. I messed with Curves a bit but it's going to take me some time to get used to that tool so this was done with levels.

Its still a bit underexposed. You might want to adjust the levels.

 

[JIP]

I think with the underexposure you are going to have alot of trouble with this image being flat. I think John05 did the best edit job so far.

 

[Christie Photo]

I feel like we're still missing the boat just a bit. Color balance is my concern, along with contrast. It's a bit off-center too.

I warmed it a bit, increased the contrast and did a slight crop.

I hope this helps.

Pete