Processing style C&C please

[crimbfighter]

This year I have been trying to work on my post processing, including getting out of my comfort zone for processing styles. I tried several different processing styles on the same image, and I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this one? I'm trying to play with tones and color more. Thanks for looking!

 

[DanOstergren]

Are you editing in photoshop or lightroom?
I may be wrong, but I detect a bit of a green tone in the darker areas of the photo, and I would perhaps tone that down a little in order to bring some more contrast to the image. Right now it seems a bit hazy.

 

[crimbfighter]

Are you editing in photoshop or lightroom?
I sense a bit of a green tone in the darker areas of the photo, and I would perhaps tone that down a little in order to bring some more contrast to the image. Right now it seems a bit hazy.

Thanks for the feedback. I use both, actually, but primarily Lightroom. I generally only use Photoshop for local adjustments and cloning. The haziness was in part intentional, but perhaps it's not really working here. Would you suggest working on split toning in the shadows to adjust that, or would the hue/saturation sliders be a better tool for it? I admit I'm not very good at split toning, so I'm hoping the latter

Here's with the green channel at 100% reduced saturation. It's a subtle difference, but is this the direction you're envisioning?

 

[paigew]

I would bring up the shadows. Moms hair is almost blending with the bg.

 

[tirediron]

I would bring up the shadows. Moms hair is almost blending with the bg.

Actually, I think that sort of works here; the light is squarely on the child's face, and there's enough brightness on the mother's hair lower down that it's clear that's who it is, but not so much that it distracts from the child.

 

[The_Traveler]

Wanted to see larger but the Flickr original is marked private.

 

[crimbfighter]

I would bring up the shadows. Moms hair is almost blending with the bg.

I think tirediron kinda found what I liked about the image. This shot was not planned, but rather a candid moment as we were walking to the next spot and I was exchanging funny faces with her, so I can't say "that's what I intended for the shot" but I liked the way the focus is on her, then you find mom, then you see some detail in the background for context. Thank you for the comment, though, I appreciate the feedback!

I would bring up the shadows. Moms hair is almost blending with the bg.

Actually, I think that sort of works here; the light is squarely on the child's face, and there's enough brightness on the mother's hair lower down that it's clear that's who it is, but not so much that it distracts from the child.

Thanks for the comment, tirediron! That is what I liked about the image.

Wanted to see larger but the Flickr original is marked private.

Fixed. I always default to private and usually forget to change it when I post...

 

[Derrel]

I think it's a good idea to experiment and move outside of one's comfort zone on color processing; I've been doing the same thing myself since 2013, when I moved from ACR and Photoshop to Lightroom for the vast,vast majority of my image processing. Since then, I've started doing more and more processing that looks less realistic, and more interpretive, less-accurate, less-representational. I personally think that many people have grown tired of "accurate color". I really believe that.

In this shot, I think the little girl's hair bow needs to be burned down. I think that some very light use of the dodge tool might help differentiate the mother's figure from the backdrop. I think I might also burn down her sweater sleeves and her hands a little bit, to draw more attention to her face. Overall though, I see this as a pretty realistic look; the colors seem believable, genuine, natural.

 

[The_Traveler]

Well you seem pretty comfortable.
I like to look at the full size pictures so I can isolate the face from the surrounding color.
I also like to try first to get the whites of the eye to be a nice close to neutral milky white.
In this situation, her skin looked a bit blue to me so I tried adding some yellow in the mid-tones and the highlights.
The bluish eyes faded nicely.
Then I added a bit of red saturation to make her look a little more rosy.
If this was fill flash it may have been a bit too bright and too much on axis because it looks a tiny bit flat.

All that being said, I think it is just a gorgeous shot.
Full size it is wonderfully sharp and clear and nice.

Helped of course by her beautiful symmetrical face, essentially perfect skin (if you retouched that, bravo) and the totally great arrangement of the people.
I don't think that wide crop does the picture justice. It doesn't seem to add and does minimize the balance of the pose.
Your arrangement of people is so right on that you could crop much closer, still understand teh background and set off the beautiful arrangement of limbs and people. (and I brought down the brightness of the barette on top of her head.)

As you can tell I am a fan of this shot.

 

[crimbfighter]

I think it's a good idea to experiment and move outside of one's comfort zone on color processing; I've been doing the same thing myself since 2013, when I moved from ACR and Photoshop to Lightroom for the vast,vast majority of my image processing. Since then, I've started doing more and more processing that looks less realistic, and more interpretive, less-accurate, less-representational. I personally think that many people have grown tired of "accurate color". I really believe that.

In this shot, I think the little girl's hair bow needs to be burned down. I think that some very light use of the dodge tool might help differentiate the mother's figure from the backdrop. I think I might also burn down her sweater sleeves and her hands a little bit, to draw more attention to her face. Overall though, I see this as a pretty realistic look; the colors seem believable, genuine, natural.

Thanks for the comments, Darrel. I find that most of my photography I am doing just what you mention, and making the final edits represent real life as closely as possible. Perhaps the artistic editing is just a fad, but it's still something I'm trying to explore more. Thanks for the suggestions, too. I'll play around with it more before I deliver the images.

Well you seem pretty comfortable.
I like to look at the full size pictures so I can isolate the face from the surrounding color.
I also like to try first to get the whites of the eye to be a nice close to neutral milky white.
In this situation, her skin looked a bit blue to me so I tried adding some yellow in the mid-tones and the highlights.
The bluish eyes faded nicely.
Then I added a bit of red saturation to make her look a little more rosy.
If this was fill flash it may have been a bit too bright and too much on axis because it looks a tiny bit flat.

All that being said, I think it is just a gorgeous shot.
Full size it is wonderfully sharp and clear and nice.

Helped of course by her beautiful symmetrical face, essentially perfect skin (if you retouched that, bravo) and the totally great arrangement of the people.
I don't think that wide crop does the picture justice. It doesn't seem to add and does minimize the balance of the pose.
Your arrangement of people is so right on that you could crop much closer, still understand teh background and set off the beautiful arrangement of limbs and people. (and I brought down the brightness of the barette on top of her head.)

As you can tell I am a fan of this shot.
View attachment 110412

Thanks Traveler, for the feedback! I see what you're talking about in terms of color. I was using a diffused speedlight, handheld, at arms length above and to the left, which for my arm span, is about 4 feet. I think it might seem flat due to the processing. I might try some selective contrast adding to her face and see what that does. I also like the crop, perhaps I'll revisit that, too. As for her skin, it's all natural. She is a beautiful girl who has her dad's piercing eyes and features, and her mom's personality. I think dad knows she's gonna be trouble with the boys when she's older...

 

[DaPOPO]

Well you seem pretty comfortable.
I like to look at the full size pictures so I can isolate the face from the surrounding color.
I also like to try first to get the whites of the eye to be a nice close to neutral milky white.
In this situation, her skin looked a bit blue to me so I tried adding some yellow in the mid-tones and the highlights.
The bluish eyes faded nicely.
Then I added a bit of red saturation to make her look a little more rosy.
If this was fill flash it may have been a bit too bright and too much on axis because it looks a tiny bit flat.

All that being said, I think it is just a gorgeous shot.
Full size it is wonderfully sharp and clear and nice.

Helped of course by her beautiful symmetrical face, essentially perfect skin (if you retouched that, bravo) and the totally great arrangement of the people.
I don't think that wide crop does the picture justice. It doesn't seem to add and does minimize the balance of the pose.
Your arrangement of people is so right on that you could crop much closer, still understand teh background and set off the beautiful arrangement of limbs and people. (and I brought down the brightness of the barette on top of her head.)

As you can tell I am a fan of this shot.
View attachment 110412

I like this crop better..

 

[crimbfighter]

Well you seem pretty comfortable.
I like to look at the full size pictures so I can isolate the face from the surrounding color.
I also like to try first to get the whites of the eye to be a nice close to neutral milky white.
In this situation, her skin looked a bit blue to me so I tried adding some yellow in the mid-tones and the highlights.
The bluish eyes faded nicely.
Then I added a bit of red saturation to make her look a little more rosy.
If this was fill flash it may have been a bit too bright and too much on axis because it looks a tiny bit flat.

All that being said, I think it is just a gorgeous shot.
Full size it is wonderfully sharp and clear and nice.

Helped of course by her beautiful symmetrical face, essentially perfect skin (if you retouched that, bravo) and the totally great arrangement of the people.
I don't think that wide crop does the picture justice. It doesn't seem to add and does minimize the balance of the pose.
Your arrangement of people is so right on that you could crop much closer, still understand teh background and set off the beautiful arrangement of limbs and people. (and I brought down the brightness of the barette on top of her head.)

As you can tell I am a fan of this shot.
View attachment 110412

I like this crop better..

Thanks for the feedback! I did end up bringing the crop in similar to Traveler's edit, however, I kept it as a 4x6 ratio rather than more of an 8x10 that Traveler did.