First Post... Images to share

MWC2 · Jun 19, 2011

Hi Everyone~

I figured the best way to break the ice was to jump right in and get my feet wet, so here are a couple of my recent images.

I'm pretty happy with how far I have come with my images in the last 2 years, but I'm always wanting to learn more so please let me know what I should be working on to improve. ohhh and for those that are morbidly curious, below is an image that I thought was the cat's meow just over a year ago....

Rebekah5280 · Jun 19, 2011

Do you do a lot of post editing?

MWC2 · Jun 19, 2011

Rebekah5280 said:
Do you do a lot of post editing?

In the last 6 months I've been working on finding my PP style, I seem to be leaning more toward a bright clean edit.

I normally do levels adjustment (darken my shadows and bring my highlights up to around 245 from 255), do a curves adjustment, skin work and a little sharpening for the web or print. The first two images posted here do have a haze and some grain added to give a softer look. No actions or presets are used, unless it's an action I recorded myself to help speed up my work flow (for example, I have my sharpening and sizing for web and print saved as an action). so really there isn't much PP involved, maybe 10 mintues per image (give or take).

subscuck · Jun 19, 2011

IMO, the eyes are a bit overcooked in all of your shots. Not terribly so, just a touch. You have definitely come a long way. Nice job.

MWC2 · Jun 19, 2011

subscuck said:
IMO, the eyes are a bit overcooked in all of your shots. Not terribly so, just a touch. You have definitely come a long way. Nice job.

thanks! I have a hard time with eyes, doesn't help that my girls have bright eyes to start with. When I first started with PS I would really over cook the eyes (like freaky over done, lol).

Here is SOOC from the same "session", just sharpened for web, to give you an idea of what I started with.

Rebekah5280 · Jun 19, 2011

The second picture is a little too hazy for me.

And, I agree, there is something about the eyes.. but looking at the way the are without being processed, I can see she does have unusual eyes to begin with so anything you do to them would only exaggerate that further. Not that its a bad thing. Just preference.

I really like the "bright, clean" look myself, and its the look that I'm trying to get in all my pictures of the babies/kids that I take.