why do my edits suck

[peanut170]

May I beat my own chest? I will now say something profound:

Um uhm - clearing my throat.

If you know they suck then you must know why they suck. Think about that.

Now that profound comment is out of the way I suggest that the real issue is that you know what is wrong but don't know what to do to correct it. So please give a detailed explanation of why you think they suck and then those with the knowledge of how to correct that can help out.

Am I correct or did I just flop on a profundity?

The originals just seem dull and crappy color. The purple sweatshirt and pink jacket look alot more colorful in real life. So i guess why i think my edits suck is cause, i can never get close to real life colors, not sure if thats possible, but i see some pretty darn close edits that others do. so i try things to brighten the colors and it always ends up the same, too saturated. I need better colors, less hazy foggy look and less saturation......somehow.

 

[brianT]

nice edit brianT.. dig the new crop

Thanks. I see this type of crop all the time in TV and movies (cutting off the top of the head). I thought I'd try it here. The idea is to get closer to the important parts of the face: eyes, mouth, etc..

For the OP:

There's many skilled photographers on this forum that can give you better advice about portrait photography than I can. Personally I'm trying to learn about 'people' photography myself because it's one area that I lack. But what I do know is that using some artificial light like a speedlight will make your portraits way better. There's a lot to learn about lighting but start with the basics and go from there.

In your info it says you use a D90. Buy an SB-600 (or the new SB-700) and learn how to use it. You can use it as an off-camera flash. If used well your portraits will pop and the color and definition of the face will be way better, especially on those cloudy days in Washington.

 

[JasonLambert]

Here's mine... Feeding the baby and editing.... FUN!

BTW... Nice shot!

 

[JasonLambert]

Sorry, when I posted this I had a baby in one arm while holding the bottle under my chin. That only left one hand to type with... Anyway... I wanted to tell a little about what I did. I know this isn't everyones cup of tea but I like the style.

I used a mix of Lightroom3 and Photoshop CS2 (I should update someday).

In LR I took the exp to -30, blacks +18, temp +15, brightness +16, contrast +12, vibrance +8

I then used a med feathered brush and brushed the eyes with a light blue and uped the exp by +0.49 to bring them out.

I exported the image to PS and layered 2 copies of the original and above and below my texture layer. Set the texture layer to 'overlay' and the top copy of the original to 'pin light'. I then erased the face area of the texture layer to remove the texture in her face. Now back to LR

The face was a little dark from the pin light so I brushed the face with +54 brightness, +10 clarity, +22 sharpness.

A little light pink brush over the sand, green over the water, and blue over the sky to ad some color. I also added some vignetting to the top left, top right and bottom right.

Just had fun with it... Been trying out the texture thing lately and am LOVING the look. I have sold 3 of my textured photos so far!! That's money baby!

 

[Boomn4x4]

Your edits don't suck... your original shot does (and I say that lightly as it dosen't really suck, just going along with your verbage). You are way underexposed. You need to fix your exposure first before you go into changing levels and curves.

Once you have a good exposure, then worry about your levels, curves, and color saturation... finally the burning.