Creative edits = Over Processing??

[SabrinaO]

At what point does a creative edit become too much or over processed? Most of the time creative edits are done to the taste or liking of the photographer. So is it good to present creative edits to your clients, or is it best to keep pictures simple and natural, or show both? This client likes vintage stuff and I decided to edit these in a vintage type look. What do you think?

 

[Trever1t]

actually I like these!

 

[Quentin_Moyer]

IMO, overediting is putting a massive tunnel vision vignette on the picture or going crazy with Picnik filters.
I think these are pretty tastefully done.

 

[red__zed]

Look tastefully done to me, at least on my iPhone screen.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[SabrinaO]

Thanks guys... Sometimes I think special edits can make the picture better. Sometimes the originals are just boring. I just don't know how clients will actually take to the creative edits though. Here are the originals:

 

[photoguy1971]

I like these edits. They do not looked over cooked at all.

 

[helloyo53]

I, like everyone on this thread, do like the editing you have done with it. Doesn't seem overdone at all.

 

[frisii]

I like the edits. The originals too.

 

[vonstarrphoto]

I think they are stunning

 

[Geaux]

Bravo! I dig em!

My ONLY nit-pick....skin tone of the child is lost in the edit. My suggestion: Select the child off the original, paste it into a new layer, mess with opacity of the new layer (with the child) to bring some more color into the child. I'd say like 10% or so, nothing too drastic so it doesn't mess up the overall vintage look and that the child looks pasted in.

 

[indioli]

I love them. I think the editing has improved the photo's and given them a new dimension!

 

[Josh66]

Not bad, but they are a little over done for my taste.

I didn't notice it right away, but once I saw the HDR/cartoon effect on his shirt, they went from great to 'meh'.

Basically, I love what you did to the background, but not so much what you did to the boy.

(They both could use just a little straightening too, BTW...)


edit
Also, the skin tones do not look good... He looks kinda ... dead ... with the grayish skin tones...

 

[SabrinaO]

Not bad, but they are a little over done for my taste.

I didn't notice it right away, but once I saw the HDR/cartoon effect on his shirt, they went from great to 'meh'.

Basically, I love what you did to the background, but not so much what you did to the boy.

(They both could use just a little straightening too, BTW...)


edit
Also, the skin tones do not look good... He looks kinda ... dead ... with the grayish skin tones...

I was thinking the same. It has an HDR look which i really don't like either. I turned down the clarity of it but it looked a little flat so I put it back up just a tad. Ill try bringing back his natural skin tones but I don't want it to look like he was pasted on.

 

[SabrinaO]

While we are on this subject.... What do you all think of these as for lighting, WB and colors?

2

3

4

5

 

[Josh66]

Lighting looks good to me on all of those.

A couple of them seem just a touch warm in WB - but it's not something I would worry about too much. It's the kind of thing you would never see unless you were looking for it.

They look good.


In the first (PP'd) set, I was thinking that you applied that texture to the walls... Now it looks like they were really like that. Cool walls, lol.



Like I said before, I really love the background on the first set - I just think the boy needs a little more work. Or, maybe just scale back what you did already.
Just get the skin tones looking good, and they're perfect. (And get rid of the HDR effect on his shirt.)