Trio

[zulu42]

One of them is a dog.

 

[Ysarex]

The image is quite a bit too dark and too flat. You need to re-edit the tone response.

Joe

 

[jcdeboever]

That is a very nice composition and excellent lens rendition. You may consider lifting the shadows / contrast a bit to add to your artistic view. I like the way it is but if it were mine this is how it appears in print. Well done and a beautiful family.

 

[zulu42]

thanks very much for the comments.

jcd... appreciate your taking the time to do an edit. I like it.

I get almost universal comments that my images are too dark. Perhaps I'll start editing with sunglasses on

 

[Ysarex]

thanks very much for the comments.

jcd... appreciate your taking the time to do an edit. I like it.

I get almost universal comments that my images are too dark. Perhaps I'll start editing with sunglasses on

Display calibrated?

Joe

 

[zulu42]

No, well, not really. I've done the windows calibration and adjusted a few levels based on how my prints look, but I may have a discussion with Santa about this...

 

[jcdeboever]

thanks very much for the comments.

jcd... appreciate your taking the time to do an edit. I like it.

I get almost universal comments that my images are too dark. Perhaps I'll start editing with sunglasses on

I actually like it for the most part but the people and animal in this particular photo need to show off their qualities. I get the idea and it works on a extreme modest side. I would want to celebrate and a little light does that for me. There is nothing dark, subtle, or contemplative that I can see. Just the joy of life and healthy family in it. All of the subjects are beautiful and deserve a little more in my opinion.

 

[Ysarex]

No, well, not really. I've done the windows calibration and adjusted a few levels based on how my prints look, but I may have a discussion with Santa about this...

http://www.amazon.com/X-Rite-CMUNSM...21026&sr=8-1&keywords=x-rite+colormunki+smile

It really makes a difference.

Joe

 

[zulu42]

Thanks to you both again.

This is what I came up with:

 

[Derrel]

Still looks "flat"...your highlighted side of the face is low in contrast, and also lacking in the brightness that would say, "This is where the main light is/was coming from". Your shadowed side of the face has a reasonable amount o facial detail, meaning that I can make out some details in the man's face and the dog's shadowed side of the face as well, but not in the woman's.

This edit would be referred to as muddy by some people...the highlight side and the shadowed sides are close to one another in absolute brightness AND there is a lack of contrast. JC's edit in post #3 looks pretty good on man and woman...dog could use a tiny bit of dodging maybe, but overall, decent.

 

[zulu42]

Thanks for the comments Derrel. I see what you are saying, but not sure how to get the desired effects you're talking about. If I may ask a few questions:

Should I have used harder light to begin with? This was a single speedlight in a shoot through umbrella.

Do you think brushing some contrast increase onto the bright side of the faces would bring more depth? Increase the highlights on that side as well? Or a global adjustment?

I have to remind myself that Rome was not built in a day. I need time and experience to improve. Having you folks here helping me out and giving me tips is such a valuable resource. Can't thank you enough.

 

[Derrel]

I think the light source itself was probably amply hard, amply contrasty. I have not seen the raw file, but my guess is that it's pretty "thin" on the shadowed side, without a lot of shadow detail. I think what it needs is a Tone Curve adjustment, and then probably a pretty much "straight print" processing approach. This is split lighting, with one side lit, the other not...that type of lighting pattern is always high in contrast, 'cause there's a bright side, then a dark side, and not much in-between. It's a very dramatic, moody, bold lighting pattern, and one that is in my opinion, often a lighting type that can be difficult to work with.

I'm not really sure what your artistic intent is or was, so it's difficult for me to give you any advice other than to work through how you think it ought to look as a finished image. I am not sure what you want the final effect to be like...but yeah, maybe make the highlights brighter, crisper, lighter in value. This photo could be processed in a number of slightly different ways,and any one of them might catch your fancy. I wish I had more concrete suggestions to offer.

 

[zulu42]

That is helpful. I will play with it some more. Thanks again.

You actually hit on something more fundamental, this photo was lacking artistic intent from the moment it was taken. It was an accident. I forgot to turn on my key light, a reflected speedlight camera left.

You know those "happy accidents" where something goes wrong but the result is interesting? Well I thought this might be one of those. Now a few days later, I'm thinking a B&W split lighting family portrait of a smiling couple with a dog isn't, I don't know, cohesive. It isn't really a good idea.

I'll still play with it to practice PP. I like the B&W split lighting look. I'll use it intentionally sometime when it's more appropriate.

 

[jcdeboever]

I think it is a wonderful photo. You don't seem to mind so I spent a little more time on it in Gimp. In both images, I lifted the shadows more which shows more noise but I think it works fine. One I added a hint of gold to give it a vintage look. The second a hint of silver. I like the Silver better. This gives you an idea of the possibilities you can create with this gentle photo. As Derrel mentioned, if shot in RAW, you could do more with it.

gold

Silver

 

[zulu42]

Thank you jc. I like them both