Nitpickers Please....

JenLavazza · Apr 23, 2010

No, not at all!! Thanks Paul!

Derrel · Apr 23, 2010

Yeah, Paul!!! I like Paul's resoration of the foreground detail and the correction of the horizon line. A canvas is going to hang on the wall for years...so I understand the desire to make it perfect. Two small things I would correct are that pointy,white rock in the flower bed on the right hand side of the picture, and the background signpost. Those two things, and especially that white,pointy rock, really draw my eye away from the girls. it sure is a cute tea party scene--one grandparents would truly cherish.

bennielou · Apr 23, 2010

LBPhotog said:
Jen, you told us to NIT PICK your Mother outlaw will LOVE THIS IMAGE ... it's a cute shot and she will NEVER notice the stuff that we are picking up on.

I really don't see the harm in him doing the best he can with the image. It is a beautiful image. He just needs a few tips to make it the best print he can.

I print canvases all the time.

Why are you being resistant to someone who wants to do a great job, and not just "they will like it".

We are all here to learn.

If I took shortcuts, even for family, I wouldn't feel good about it. I like that Paul is proud of his work, as he should be, and is looking to do the best job he can.

c.cloudwalker · Apr 23, 2010

Derrel said:
Two small things I would correct are that pointy,white rock in the flower bed on the right hand side of the picture, and the background signpost. Those two things, and especially that white,pointy rock, really draw my eye away from the girls.

Agreed with the rock. The sign doesn't bother me because it is barely visible but... the OP did ask to nitpick.

The dreamy look is fine with me. I find it nice for a little girls photo. The blown areas bother me much more. The tutu dress thingy of the younger kid still looks blown to me in the last edit. Burn it in some while you do the same to the pointy rock.

Nice present when you get it right.

reznap · Apr 23, 2010

c.cloudwalker said:
The tutu dress thingy of the younger kid still looks blown to me in the last edit. Burn it in some while you do the same to the pointy rock.

Burn tool is bad for this... will make the edit look obvious and bring the highlights down too much, losing contrast. Best tool for this is Nik Software's Viveza.

Tried to fix the 2 issues. Used clone stamp for the triangular rock.

JenLavazza · Apr 23, 2010

PERFECT!!! Thanks Paul!

c.cloudwalker · Apr 23, 2010

reznap said:
Burn tool is bad for this... will make the edit look obvious and bring the highlights down too much, losing contrast. Best tool for this is Nik Software's Viveza.

That's interesting. Since I don't do digital PP, I base my PP comments on my darkroom experience :grumpy:

But, are you saying that you cannot control how little or how much to burn in digital PP? Well done burning in the darkroom is invisible.

reznap · Apr 23, 2010

c.cloudwalker said:
That's interesting. Since I don't do digital PP, I base my PP comments on my darkroom experience

But, are you saying that you cannot control how little or how much to burn in digital PP? Well done burning in the darkroom is invisible.

Hmm. Well I don't know anything about darkroom work. I developed a few prints over 10 years ago and I don't remember anything about it..

The burn tool in photoshop is not perfect though (or the way I'm using it is wrong), tends to turn whites into grays for me.. and on the tutu that wouldn't have been a good thing.

mwcfarms · Apr 23, 2010

I hope the moms love it. Its a great picture for a keepsake. Kudos.

c.cloudwalker · Apr 23, 2010

reznap said:
The burn tool in photoshop is not perfect though (or the way I'm using it is wrong), tends to turn whites into grays for me.. and on the tutu that wouldn't have been a good thing.

I think the way you look at it may be wrong rather than the way you use it. Even though this is a bit off topic, I will post it here because it might help others.

A darker white IS a gray. No way around that. But there is nothing wrong with that as there are many, many, many shades of gray. The point is to get details while still getting the idea that the outfit is white in color.

Now, as I said, I am not good with digital PP so I don't know how light a touch you can get while burning but, because digital PP tries to imitate the darkroom, I would think it is very feasible to have a very light touch.

A good example of that is a white wedding dress. We all know that the dress is white but to give a sense of 3d some parts of it in a photo will be gray. But those parts will be different shades of grays depending on how much light they got.

The thing to keep in mind here is that if an area really is blown out, there are no details to bring back and, yes, in that case you get a solid mass of disgusting grays.

Hope that helps someone.

reznap · Apr 23, 2010

c.cloudwalker said:
Hope that helps someone.

:thumbup:

I think my biggest enemy is lack of patience in photoshop.. which is absurd considering how much longer is takes (well, certain things) to do in the darkroom. Not to mention the inability to jump back through the history (undo).

Vinny · Apr 23, 2010

I like the last photo but I think you're too far away. Depending on how big the canvas is going to be I might crop the scene to the front of the blanket, the side corner of the blanket and the edge of the basket, all 3 with just a little brick showing. As far as the top, just a little of the grass, maybe 2x as much as the brick in the front. Grandma couldn't care less about what's around her grand daughters ...

Just my opinion.

c.cloudwalker · Apr 23, 2010

reznap said:
c.cloudwalker said:

Hope that helps someone.

Click to expand...

:thumbup:

I think my biggest enemy is lack of patience in photoshop.. which is absurd considering how much longer is takes (well, certain things) to do in the darkroom. Not to mention the inability to jump back through the history (undo).

This is very funny considering I've posted a few times about how Patience is a tool that should be in every photog's bag.

But nobody's perfect. I never had the patience to learn any instrument :grumpy:

I do not believe that the darkroom is any harder. Different, yes. Harder, no. I think this idea comes from the fact most people have a computer while few of us had a darkroom. But the truth is, how many of us know how to do much more than playing games on the computer. :lol:

Edit = The ability to jump back through the history is a big, big plus to digital.

JenLavazza · Apr 23, 2010

Well, the place that I get my canvas' from said to not crop close for gallery wrap..... Once it's wrapped it'll be cropped.

I know what you re saying though...Granny doesn't care about bricks! lol

ghpham · Apr 24, 2010

I love the composition, and I like the dreamy concept. I do believe perhaps the girl's dress camera left is overexposed? hence no matter how much you back off the dreamy effect.

I am 100% sure that grandma will love it though. I wouldn't mind hanging that on my wall