New to DSLR, C&C please?

[kro]

My darling husband decided to give me a DSLR for Christmas, after both of our old point and shoots died this past year. I'm so glad to have made the plunge into doing more with photography!
Anyway, I've been taking pictures like mad trying to figure out all these new modes and such. Could someone here please look at some of the keepers I took and point out things I didn't notice?
1.

I like this one because it captures her very subtle yet feisty personality. Did I do too much PP on this? Her eye seems a little goofy.
2.

My big concern with this one is how old she looks. Is there anyway in PP to take down the harshness of her forehead?
3.

And I like the lighting in this, and how young/peaceful it makes him look.

 

[TylerF]

hope you don't mind, but i did a quick pp on your second one.

 

[kro]

hope you don't mind, but i did a quick pp on your second one.

Not at all, I wouldn't have thought to frame it or do any kind of fading of the background. You really made her pop.
What else did you do, if you don't mind explaining.

 

[bazooka]

Congrats on the new camera!!

I do think you went too far on PP on the first one. It looks strange, certainly the eyes. I would reconsider your composition as well, having her centered is often a less than ideal choice.

Tyler improved your composition on #2 by cropping it off-center. Also, the background is very white so it draws attention away from the darker subject, which I believe is why he added vignetting. He also smoothed the face. Although he did a good job of it, I personally don't like changing what people physically look like in PP, but it's completely personal taste. It would be better to change the pose/composition before you take the shot.

I think the 3rd would benfit if he you used a smaller aperature or shorter focal length to get them both in focus. It's somewhat difficult to look at for me.

 

[TylerF]

Tyler improved your composition on #2 by cropping it off-center. Also, the background is very white so it draws attention away from the darker subject, which I believe is why he added vignetting. He also smoothed the face. Although he did a good job of it, I personally don't like changing what people physically look like in PP, but it's completely personal taste. It would be better to change the pose/composition before you take the shot.

i agree with you, i like keeping the person the same with as little pp as possible. but she wanted a way to smooth out the forehead. all i did was use the blur tool lol. i just learned how to vignette the other day haha.