Tell me what you think......

MTVision · Aug 10, 2011

Thank you for stopping by to check out my thread!! I hope you will leave your opinions and advice while you're here!!

I've been playing around with my camera a lot as well as my photoshop elements. I am trying to learn as much as possible but as you all know - there is a lot to learn

I just wanted to get some feedback on composition as well as the editing. Is the editing too heavy? Are the pictures completely horrible? I'm willing and open to listening and I won't rant and rave about how "rude" everyone is. :lol:

I want to hear everything you have to say - good, bad, and ugly!!!

1. Edited with a curves adjustment - came out pretty cool looking in my opinion but does it still look real? Too heavy of an adjustment?

Purple Passion by MT Vision Photography, on Flickr

Exposure 1/400
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 55mm
ISO 100

2. Original

DSC_0222 by MT Vision Photography, on Flickr

Exposure 1/400
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 55mm
ISO 100

3. This picture was a little underexposed originally. Had fun editing it but did I go to far? I'm a little biased here because this is my little girl so obviously I love the picture!

killcarecopy by MT Vision Photography, on Flickr

Exposure 1/200
Aperture f/5.6
Focal Length 55mm
ISO 200

djk · Aug 10, 2011

By no means am I a professional but these are just my two cents

1. I really like this one and I think it'd look a lot less like a glowing UFO if the stem was still there. Nonetheless I like how the flower "glows in the dark." In terms of whether it looks real or not, it might be too heavily edited to look real.

2&3. Both slightly underexposed

earthmanbuck · Aug 10, 2011

I'm no pro either, but the colour of your girl's skin in #3 looks kinda off. Sorta purplish. Still a cute pic, though.

MTVision · Aug 11, 2011

DJK - I've tried redoing #1 and getting the stem in there but for some reason I can't even get it to look like that again! I don't know what I did the first time but I can't do it again!

Earthmanbuck - yeah I tried doing this "gritty" effect on #3 and I think that is what is causing the weird skin color! I didn't notice the purple tint though til now!!!

Kerbouchard · Aug 11, 2011

The flower is a cool shot and I like the edit. I would have left the stem, though. I think it would have added a lot to that shot.

For the pic of your girl, the white balance is off and there is a definite blue cast to your daughter's skin.

Disclaimer: Here is the actual Critique... I would add the stem back to the flower and it would have benefited from being shot at a smaller aperture to increase your depth of field. Your edit is obviously your interpretation, and I know you were going for the blacklight, glow in the dark, incredibly vivid colors, so me saying that it's oversaturated is kind of a moot point.

For your daughter, the wind is blowing the hair into her eyes, which is a bit distracting. The white balance is off and the background doesn't really add to the photo. Generally, the eye is drawn the the brightest part of the photo, which in this case, is a blown out piece of the sky at the top and to the right. I would probably recrop this to a vertical orientation with very little of the background.

MTVision · Aug 11, 2011

Kerbouchard - I actually wasn't going for the glow in the dark, vivid color - I wasn't going for anything LOL. I don't really know how to use curves and I was just playing around and it ended up like this. I thought it looked cool - except for the stem. It disappeared all by itself!! Thanks for the crop advice. Now, when I look at it all I can see is the blown out sky! I'll have to go back and fix this picture. I'm not even going to tell you what I edited #3 with....I know better now though!

Thanks to all of you - you've been really helpful!!

MTVision · Aug 11, 2011

aubree by MT Vision Photography, on Flickr

This a slightly edited version of #3. I didn't have the time to edit out her hair but I cropped it and warmed it up a little bit. I think the color of her skin is still a little off. I definitely do not think its purple anymore!! LOL

GeorgieGirl · Aug 11, 2011

What color are your little girls eyes? In the first edit they are blue, in this new edit they are green. If here eyes are indeed blue, then this new edit went to far in the worng direction. In your first one, take a look at the trees, particulalry on the right side, and see all that aberration going on? Its partly the sky coming through, but its more than the sky and it needs to be dialed back. If you reduce the blue saturation a bit see what happens overall. And what color is the dress? Is is magenta or is it purple? Take a look at that too.

She's a cutie pie!!!

MTVision · Aug 11, 2011

Her eyes are blue but I did a layer mask only on her eyes on the new edit and changed the brightness and contrast just to see what it looked like and they changed to green. The shirt is purple! Besides the green eyes it's hard to judge the color bcus my screen isn't calibrated and I'm not smart enough to figure out when the menu button for the monitor is! I'll have to play around and figure it out. The first edit was done with picnik.com (I was playing around with it until I found out it damages the picture). Thanks for the feedback - I'm slowly learning Photoshop elements.

eUgalde13 · Aug 11, 2011

When shooting outside try setting your WB to cloudy, skin tones will look more natural. Cute little girl BTW.

KenC · Aug 11, 2011

The edited flower doesn't look real, but it is a great interpretation. I wouldn't change a thing.

MTVision · Aug 11, 2011

KenC said:
The edited flower doesn't look real, but it is a great interpretation. I wouldn't change a thing.

Thanks!!

Scoody · Aug 11, 2011

The first one is very good. Leaving the stem in would have made it awesome. The second one...meh. The third one, your composition is off. The little smurf (referring to the blue tint) should have been on the other side of the frame.

EmMcCon · Aug 11, 2011

Im pretty sure my opinion is only worth .5 cents but here goes: Very nice at first the eyes were off at first but I would've prefered maybe if you hadn't cropped it...but I don't know. Other than that very nice