How would you edit this?

[TheStupidForeigner]

Maybe it's just because I've been staring at and trying to reedit this image for so long but I just really feel like there is something wrong about it but cant quite say what....

What do you guys think? How would you edit this differently?

 

[Designer]

Sometimes it's not just editing.

 

[ronlane]

In my opinion, the eyes have been over processed and the right eye looks weird with the dappled light on it. (too bright.)

 

[pixmedic]

 

[Derrel]

Not much can be done with the small JPEG file, but I saw too much green in the skin tones under the chin, so I went to selective color and in the yellow panel, I added a bit of magenta to subdue the very faint green cast, and then I subtracted some cyan. This selective color adjustment also helps to show the colored light that the basketball is casting on the shadow-side cheek.

I cropped it more tightly...as-shown originally, the dark, empty right side was causing an off-balance feeling to the shot. In your original, the basketball was very low, and farrrr off to the left...I have moved the basketball visually "upward", and I am using the arm on the lower right as a diagonal line that leads up and in to the subject...I am "aiming" the arm for the whites of the eyes, which have caught the light just perfectly!!!

I am pretty satisfied with my cropping of this shot. I think it looks much better-balanced, and more engaging.

 

[TheStupidForeigner]

Btw I'm a beginner so go easy... :/

 

[The_Traveler]

I think the red blotch on her cheek that is a reflection off the ball is a difficult problem to solve in PPing.

Perhaps reshoot it, if possible, and past some black plastic on the part of the ball that is reflecting the light.
The green tinge is easily fixable but that blotch that includes her eye would take some real effort to fix and look nice.
A good retoucher could do it easily but me, not so much.

 

[DanOstergren]

I took a go at it in Photoshop CC. Also contrary to what many photographers believe, there is actually quite a lot you can do with a small JPEG file. If I could make one suggestion on lighting though, I would suggest positioning your light so that it is just a little more in front of her rather than to the side. Doing this will make it so the light contours her cheekbones nicely and you will avoid having the strangely shaped light spot on her eye furthest from the light and instead you will get what I believe is a much more flattering light on that side that illuminates just a little more of that side of the face.

I used a few different adjustment layers to adjust color tones and exposure, and also some masked adjustment layers to make some spot adjustments to overly saturated or oddly colored spots on the skin and to adjust the light reflection of the basketball on her cheek. I also used the healing brush tool in order to sample the skin next to the hot spot on her forehead and paint over the hot spot with the sampled skin. Then I stamped the topmost visible layer and turned it into a smart object, set that layer's blending mode to "soft light", and then I applied both a subtle high pass filter and an unsharp mask filter in order to sharpen the details. Also I cropped it. That's just how I personally would edit it. Altogether it took about 15 minutes.
You can download the .TIF file and dissect it if you like: Dropbox - FB IMG 4215.tif

 

[DanOstergren]

I think the red blotch on her cheek that is a reflection off the ball is a difficult problem to solve in PPing.

Perhaps reshoot it, if possible, and past some black plastic on the part of the ball that is reflecting the light.
The green tinge is easily fixable but that blotch that includes her eye would take some real effort to fix and look nice.
A good retoucher could do it easily but me, not so much.

Layer masking with an inverted color balance adjustment layer can actually make it a pretty painless and quick correction.

 

[TheStupidForeigner]

I took a go at it. Also contrary to what many photographers believe, there is actually quite a lot you can do with a small JPEG file.

I used a few different adjustment layers to adjust color tones and exposure, and also some masked adjustment layers to make some spot adjustments to overly saturated or oddly colored spots on the skin and to adjust the light reflection of the basketball on her cheek. I also used the healing brush tool in order to sample the skin next to the hot spot on her forehead and paint over the hot spot with the sampled skin. Then I stamped the topmost visible layer and turned it into a smart object, set that layer's blending mode to "soft light", and then I applied both a subtle high pass filter and an unsharp mask filter in order to sharpen the details. Also I cropped it. That's just how I personally would edit it. Altogether it took about 15 minutes.
You can download the .TIF file and dissect it if you like: Dropbox - FB IMG 4215.tif

Wow... Man you got some talent... I will take a look a the tif tomorrow. I can't believe my white balance was so off... Until as always I see it how it is supposed to be and suddenly it's so obvious... IS this something people just learn with experience, or am I born colour blind or something? :/ I know how to do quite a bit in light room and photoshop, I just can't usually see what needs to be done

 

[DanOstergren]

I took a go at it. Also contrary to what many photographers believe, there is actually quite a lot you can do with a small JPEG file.

I used a few different adjustment layers to adjust color tones and exposure, and also some masked adjustment layers to make some spot adjustments to overly saturated or oddly colored spots on the skin and to adjust the light reflection of the basketball on her cheek. I also used the healing brush tool in order to sample the skin next to the hot spot on her forehead and paint over the hot spot with the sampled skin. Then I stamped the topmost visible layer and turned it into a smart object, set that layer's blending mode to "soft light", and then I applied both a subtle high pass filter and an unsharp mask filter in order to sharpen the details. Also I cropped it. That's just how I personally would edit it. Altogether it took about 15 minutes.
You can download the .TIF file and dissect it if you like: Dropbox - FB IMG 4215.tif

Wow... Man you got some talent... I will take a look a the tif tomorrow. I can't believe my white balance was so off... Until as always I see it how it is supposed to be and suddenly it's so obvious... IS this something people just learn with experience, or am I born colour blind or something? :/ I know how to do quite a bit in light room and photoshop, I just can't usually see what needs to be done

You will learn with experience. I edited my first post with a little bit of lighting suggestion as well, so if you want you should go back and take a look.
Another suggestion: Watch "Photographer Shoot-off: Lara Jade VS joey L". It's expensive, but you will be inspired and you will learn a lot of useful lighting and retouching techniques.

 

[runnah]

Selective color!

 

[e.rose]

I don't think it's your editing.

I think it's your lighting.

 

[DanOstergren]

I don't think it's your editing.

I think it's your lighting.

I agree, the lighting is part of it.

 

[Derrel]

Again, as part of the editing, think about getting rid of all that dead weight on the right hand side of the frame...unless you're going to lay some text in there...the image is very heavy to the left. You have the left edge of the basketball about 1/8 of an inch away from the left side of the frame..and then you have around three inches from the side of her face to the right hand side of the frame. Decide if she is supposed to be "holding the basketball up", or if it's made of lead and vinyl, and she's trying to keep it from falling out of the picture.

Decide if there should be more space underneath the ball, or if there should be more space above the ball.