family gathering C+C

[alexzobi]

So about a month ago, we had a family gathering for the shared birthday of two of my nieces. Took a bunch of pics but thought these turned out the best. C+C welcome, so long as advice comes with it of course :mrgreen:

1. While all others were splashing each other on this 95 degree day, Nick took the more intelligent (and more efficient) route...


2. Gone are the days of the infamous slip n' slide for me. Gone but not forgotten...


3. I know Nathan's eyes are closed here. An unfortunate occurance, but I still love the photo.


4. My favorite...


5.

 

[Ysarex]

Your favorite would benefit from some color and tone adjustment -- like so:





I corrected the white balance for accurate skin tone and adjusted Levels to get a normal tone response. Cute child.

Joe

 

[alexzobi]

The question is though, when does color and tone adjustment become too much? The original photo is actually correct. The easy way to tell this for me is by the wall/food tray/skin tone. The original are all correct, matching their actual color, so while the tone adjustment may make her look more...radiant (maybe?), it's not actually correct. Were these to be for someone else, I wouldn't want to correct for a skin tone that wasn't accurate, even if it did make the child more tan. I would see a possibility for offending parents, hinting towards a pale/sickly child. But I appreciate your input.

 

[Robin_Usagani]

I like Joe's edit. The thing is.. If this room was lit with a different light, it would have different color. Thats why if you go to a hardware store, sometimes they have 3 different lights to view the paint color. I say edit it to whatever pleases your eyes. My wedding photo color is never accurate.

 

[DanOstergren]

The question is though, when does color and tone adjustment become too much? The original photo is actually correct. The easy way to tell this for me is by the wall/food tray/skin tone. The original are all correct, matching their actual color, so while the tone adjustment may make her look more...radiant (maybe?), it's not actually correct. Were these to be for someone else, I wouldn't want to correct for a skin tone that wasn't accurate, even if it did make the child more tan. I would see a possibility for offending parents, hinting towards a pale/sickly child. But I appreciate your input.

I've learned that in this art form the term "correct" is very subjective. The color/ light may be accurate to what it was but that doesn't always mean it looks good or goes well with the tones of other photos in the set. In comparison to the rest of your photos that particular shot was very cool, and Joe's adjustment to the light temperature made it look much more cohesive and accurate or "correct" to me as well. And to me it becomes too much when you can tell a photo has been edited, and Joe's edit looks good and subtle to me. The cool tones of the original just don't look appealing to me at all.

 

[alexzobi]

I like Joe's edit. The thing is.. If this room was lit with a different light, it would have different color. Thats why if you go to a hardware store, sometimes they have 3 different lights to view the paint color. I say edit it to whatever pleases your eyes. My wedding photo color is never accurate.

Makes much more sense when phrased that way. I hadn't considered that.

 

[Derrel]

Most people do not really want accurate color in color photos. What most people want is pleasing color in their color photos. That has been demonstrated many times. Dead-on color is often too neutral for it to be as pleasing as color that's rendered a bit too warmly.

 

[CorrieMichael]

I like Joe's edit. The thing is.. If this room was lit with a different light, it would have different color. Thats why if you go to a hardware store, sometimes they have 3 different lights to view the paint color. I say edit it to whatever pleases your eyes. My wedding photo color is never accurate.

COMPLETELY AGREE!!!! I have had such issues and struggled with edits over this while learning. Your eye is the best indicator of what "LOOKS" right....sometimes accurate is green! While I can keep numbers in my backpocket I will still edit to what looks right to me more than I will edit to actual numbers and "literal accuracy." I too like Joe's edit. I would also lighten it up a bit but that is just my preference.

I would have also moved this over a bit to the right so you weren't chopping her hand to include it or I would have cropped to the left and not included it at all.

 

[CorrieMichael]

The question is though, when does color and tone adjustment become too much? The original photo is actually correct. The easy way to tell this for me is by the wall/food tray/skin tone. The original are all correct, matching their actual color, so while the tone adjustment may make her look more...radiant (maybe?), it's not actually correct. Were these to be for someone else, I wouldn't want to correct for a skin tone that wasn't accurate, even if it did make the child more tan. I would see a possibility for offending parents, hinting towards a pale/sickly child. But I appreciate your input.

I've learned that in this art form the term "correct" is very subjective. The color/ light may be accurate to what it was but that doesn't always mean it looks good or goes well with the tones of other photos in the set. In comparison to the rest of your photos that particular shot was very cool, and Joe's adjustment to the light temperature made it look much more cohesive and accurate or "correct" to me as well. And to me it becomes too much when you can tell a photo has been edited, and Joe's edit looks good and subtle to me. The cool tones of the original just don't look appealing to me at all.

AMAZING WORK! Just had a look WOW!