How to get clean, vibrant photos?

[cgipson1]

I took this a little farther than I would most edits... but I tried to get it close to what you might have been able to do with fill flash... underexpose the background slightly for good color saturation, and expose the subject properly...

Edit


Original

 

[amolitor]

Charlie, this is a serious question so I hope you don't take it wrong. Do you have any red/green colorblindness?

 

[bianni]

Try selecting the flesh tones before doing any adjustments

 

[cgipson1]

Charlie, this is a serious question so I hope you don't take it wrong. Do you have any red/green colorblindness?

It has never been diagnosed... but I am getting older, and my eyes are not like they were when I was younger! What are you seeing (other than oversaturation? if you mean the red in the face... I didn't have much to work with, and wasn't trying for perfection. The grass is more yellow than I like, but I tried to get a fall yellow out of it, instead of drab green))

 

[amolitor]

She just looks REALLY REALLY red in your two edits and my first reaction was, of course, uncharitable and then I thought well a heck of a lot of guys just don't see red all that well! So, why don't I not be a dick, and just ask

It could just as easily be a color space thing, for all I know. That stuff always loses me. Or maybe you're pushing saturation for other reasons and she looks just as pink to you!

 

[cgipson1]

She just looks REALLY REALLY red in your two edits and my first reaction was, of course, uncharitable and then I thought well a heck of a lot of guys just don't see red all that well! So, why don't I not be a dick, and just ask

It could just as easily be a color space thing, for all I know. That stuff always loses me. Or maybe you're pushing saturation for other reasons and she looks just as pink to you!

On my monitor, she appears slightly red.. like a cold fall day might do with some exercise.... and a little too much saturation.... lol!

I think Bianni's edit is more pinkish / red than mine... just not as dark..

I would be curious to see what others say.. especially those with calibrated monitors....

 

[Designer]

I think Charlie's edit was not too red. As he said, yes, more red than the original, but about what one might see if someone was exercising in cool air.

Or applying a little too much makeup. It happens.

Since the OP chose to not use any extra light, there is not much one can do to make the shot seem natural.

 

[cgipson1]

I think Charlie's edit was not too red. As he said, yes, more red than the original, but about what one might see if someone was exercising in cool air.

Or applying a little too much makeup. It happens.

Since the OP chose to not use any extra light, there is not much one can do to make the shot seem natural.

Thank you.. I was starting to worry! lol!

 

[ManualMode]

View attachment 34272 This is an example of mine SOOC Her skin tones look gray and washed out and the whole thing lacks pop

She's grey and washed out for two reasons: Her face is in complete shade, and she's underexposed. If you were to reshoot this exact scenario again, you *could* meter her face before shooting, which would make the face exposed right, but then pretty much everything else would be overexposed and blown out. Fill flash could have worked, but natural light would be better.. Was this shot about 1.5-2 hours before dusk? Spinning her 90 degrees to the left might have actually been pretty decent..

You also shot at f8, which leaves that pretty drab background pretty noticeable.. If you have a kit lens, set it to the lowest fstop, back off and zoom in to get some good bokeh to get separation from the background..

 

[Tony S]

YOu took an under exposed picture of her with her face in the shadow.... and it's January so it's probably not the warmest out so she's not going to be all pink and rosy warm.

The key to getting things to pop is to start out with a well executed photo to start with. Exposure, lighting, timing.. it all adds up. Miss any one and your images start to degrade from there