4th of July with the new 5DM3

[The_Traveler]

So far the advice has basically been toward what amounts to an accurate, literal portrayal of the scene. The submitted images reflect that ideal. I am looking for something between literal and my overdone original. You either get that, or you don't.

What I think you don't get is that sometimes the bad elements in a picture are so strong as to keep it from being elevated into something better.
Looking at your original it is easy to number them.

• A main subject that is totally flatly underlit.
• The subject is encased in a large, vividly color flotation device whose color dwarfs that of anything else., a garish color item that takes up lots of attention
• The background is cluttered with objects and colors that draw the eye.
• This same background is illuminated with dappled light over a range from deep shadow to bright light, much of this at tonal values lighter than the subject and thus draw the eye.

Any of these are difficult to overcome but expecting to make a memorable image from this starting point is unrealistic and magical thinking.

This is what I would do to make this look better
rotated to get her upright - and the water flat - because there is no artistic reason for her or the water to be slanted.
crop the picture to make her bigger and more important in the frame
remove most of the eye-attracting items, color and dappled light in the background - and darken the background so she stands out from it.

and I'd end up with a pleasant but low contrast picture of a little girl - a family shot, for the memory books. One that you could look at and your eye stays with the subject.

All that other 'artistic' stuff you were doing didn't add anything because you didn't have the concepts of what makes pictures good and bad.
Your 'tries' are like a chef finding that his boullion is much too salty, throws in lots of other spices essentially at random in the hopes of making the soup better.

Cameras, lenses and software need a person in the loop to make good pictures

 

[cgipson1]

Lew is not a beginner... neither am I, nor is Tyler. Neither are some others who have commented about your choice of processing!

We are TRYING to give you advice... but you don't seem to understand that, or at least don't want to listen to it! All I can say is Good Luck with your photography!

With all due respect, you and I obviously have very different ideas of what makes an interesting portrait.

So far the advice has basically been toward what amounts to an accurate, literal portrayal of the scene. The submitted images reflect that ideal. I am looking for something between literal and my overdone original. You either get that, or you don't.

With all due respect, I recommend you try Instagram, Selective Color and Posterizing!!! You might like it!

 

[SoonerBJJ]

What I think you don't get is that sometimes the bad elements in a picture are so strong as to keep it from being elevated into something better.
Looking at your original it is easy to number them.

• A main subject that is totally flatly underlit.
• The subject is encased in a large, vividly color flotation device whose color dwarfs that of anything else., a garish color item that takes up lots of attention
• The background is cluttered with objects and colors that draw the eye.
• This same background is illuminated with dappled light over a range from deep shadow to bright light, much of this at tonal values lighter than the subject and thus draw the eye.

Thank you for the specifics.

With my most recent version, I think I addressed some of these issues.

-I brightened and evened the light on her face, but as you said there is only so much I can do with flat light. I'm trying to learn how to technically optimize what I've got, without destroying or rendering artificial the skin tones.
-I dropped saturation on the floatation device and bathing suit so that they might compete less with the face. Again trying to optimize what I have to work with.
-I darkened and desaturated the background relative to the subject, such that I feel it directs attention back to the subject.

And re: leveling. That bugged me from the start but I wasn't able to level without cutting off her hand at the wrist. I believe you'll see that to be the case in your own edit. That wasn't a tradeoff I was willing to accept. Awkward cut at wrist vs angled horizon.

I am not new to capturing and composing images. I have a pretty sound grasp of the technical side of photography and elements of composition, but I am extremely new to digital processing. I have only started to tackle Photoshop within the last month or so. Before that, I have been using only basic manipulations in Lightroom. I may have an idea of what I want an image to be, but I don't yet have the technical know how to make it happen. In that regard, I'm on the steep part of the curve and bound to make mistakes. Such is life and learning...

 

[SoonerBJJ]

And, BTW I did not take this photograph. It would be difficult to take it from my position in the pool behind my daughter. My wife snapped the pic and I cropped to where I thought it should be and embarked on this processing adventure.

 

[The_Traveler]

So, in short, everything that is wrong, you saw and fixed (even better than I did cuz I cut off the hands) and, in fact, you weren't even responsible for the mistakes because your wife took the picture.
I got it.

Did she insist that you choose this image, edit it this way and then post it?

TBH, I don't think that anyone cares about the rationalizations.
You slough off the efforts of those people trying to help you and try to reason your way back to being correct.
I don't think you'll have to deal with me any more.

Lew

 

[SoonerBJJ]

Wow... you really do have thin skin, don't you? I thought this was a dialogue rather than a lecture. I didn't argue any of your points, I simply countered withhow I would attempt to address them. If you consider that an affront, then perhaps you need to lighten up as well.

As far as I can see, you didn't make any effort with my image other than to straighten and crop it... cutting off the wrist in the process. If you consider that a productive addition to this critique then I have given you far too much credit.

And, if you really think I'm blaming my wife for my efforts at processing then you are an even more pompous ass than I had been led to believe. I'm not sure how else to address that.

I think I'll still sleep okay knowing you've written me off.

 

[rokvi]

Wow... you really do have thin skin, don't you? I thought this was a dialogue rather than a lecture. I didn't argue any of your points, I simply countered withhow I would attempt to address them.

"Counter" - Contrary; Opposing. One that is opposite.


"Argue" - To put forth reasons for or against; Debate.


Your right. You did counter.

 

[SoonerBJJ]

Actually, you'll notice I used "counter" in its verb form. There is a difference.