I need some C&C on how to improve these

[suki]

I love these pics but am just stuck on what to do with them. The first one feels too saturated, second too plain, and the third sadly i had some condensation on my lense (thanks to Houston humidity) when I took the shot so i'm not sure that there is much i can do to fix it.

1)

2)

3)

 

[Opher]

The last one seems a little washed out in the middle.
But im new so i hope some one more experienced can help you.

 

[shortpballer]

Personally I like the second one the best...
I couldn't do much with the first photo.

but here it is

the last one i think looks alot better now let me know what you think

I am new to this photoshop thing but let me know what you think.

Eric

 

[shortpballer]

i fixed some of the spots on flag behind him that were distracting... and i brightened the colors and played around a little with the white balance. I also devigntted the image a bit since i'm not a fan of the vignetting

 

[suki]

Thanks Eric! I'm also fairly new to photoshop, have had elements 6 for over a year but have only recently started using it.

I didn't even notice the spots on the flag, good eye! thank you!

 

[katy625]

if you don't mind since another poster attempted a slight edit of the third pic...I also did the same. In photoshop Elements, go to your smart brush and choose contrast high and paint over the entire picture. I also used curves a tad bit. Here is the pic....

 

[MelissaMarieImagery]

I think number two just needs a little bit more contrast, I love the composition!

 

[suki]

Thanks Katy, I dont think I have ever used the smart brush feature so I'll dabble with it.

Melissa thank you, I'll try adding more contrast to it.

Do the wheat field pics seem to yellow or orange?

 

[shortpballer]

I think the second pic would look great with the whole background in black and white and the child in color. I don't know how to do this but I think it would look really good that way.

 

[Samanax]

suki: You might want to change "My Photos Are NOT OK to Edit" to "My Photos Are OK to Edit".

I think I've seen some of these images before...pretty sure I've seen the middle one before.

 

[KmH]

IMO, you need to learn how to use flash so the backgrounds aren't brighter than your subjects faces.

 

[suki]

I've started using the flash more recently, but have held back when taking pics of my son. I think i may have tramatized (sp) him when he was younger because when he see's me pull out the camera he turns away, lol!

Samanax, I'll update my profile, I don't think that I've posted any of these lately but I could be wrong.

Thanks everyone. Sadly I drove by the same field yesterday and they have already harvested the wheat, so I'll need to find another field or just do grass. I'll try the flash and just stay further back, lol!

 

[suki]

Samanax you're right, it's a repost, doh!

 

[fokker]

Second one is a cool shot!

#1 has some mean vignetting, its like looking through a tunnel almost! What lens/camera?

 

[suki]

Camera is Canon Rebel Xs ,and I believe (I'm going to mess this up) it was a Sigma 10-20mm, but i'll have to double check when I get home.

If I remember correctly, I shot it in Av mode with the Fstop all the way down (not hip on the language yet, but the smallest number which I think was 4. something).