Which one do you like better

[Robin Usagani]

If you had to choose between the 2? I know they both can do a lot of improvement.. I just want to see how people vote.

1

2

 

[Whootsinator]

Out of the two, the first one... The second one's background looks much better, but the people don't even begin to look natural. Slap a diffusor on that flash and turn it down a bit.

Edits inbound. I didn't bother with white balance, only brightened/darkened shadows/highlights. On the first one I accidentally sharpened it (way too much), and didn't realize until it was uploaded.

 

[bazooka]

I agree, #1 if I have to choose.

 

[Robin Usagani]

did you 2 vote?

 

[Robin Usagani]

Out of the two, the first one... The second one's background looks much better, but the people don't even begin to look natural. Slap a diffusor on that flash and turn it down a bit.

Edits inbound. I didn't bother with white balance, only brightened/darkened shadows/highlights. On the first one I accidentally sharpened it (way too much), and didn't realize until it was uploaded.

I kinda see the edit a bit.. not so much though. Yeah.. I wont use ETTL anymore.

 

[MohaimenK]

Ok so the sky sux in #1 but the subjecs suck in #2. Yeah you knew my answer! lol
Seriously bro, just cuz its not natural light dont mean you can't make the pic look natural. It just looks so un natural to me.

 

[Whootsinator]

2

They ARE different, if you look side-by-side. It's really night and day if you put them overtop of each other.

 

[MohaimenK]

Wool, for the first one, what did you do? It looks more sharp

 

[Robin Usagani]

yeah.. i like the edit.. i dont really see it on the 2nd one though. What did you do and with what?

 

[Whootsinator]

The second one is much more subtle, and seeing them both side-by-side I probably could have done more. It IS different though, the faces aren't quite so washed out.

 

[MohaimenK]

I believe the 2nd one has less brightness and contrast

 

[Robin Usagani]

ok i see it now.. what did you use? Clarity?

 

[Whootsinator]

Granted the quality BLOWS, but here's a gif to illustrate the difference. The first image is yours, the second is my first edit, the third is my last edit. The last one is really approaching, and possibly crossing, the line of how much you 'should' edit before it looks weird.

To tell the difference between yours and mine, yours has YOUR watermark, then switches to 'Edited by Whoots' written over yours, just so no one would blame you if you thought it looked like crap.

 

[Robin Usagani]

You are not gonna tell me what you did? LOL

 

[Whootsinator]

NEIN! MY SECRETS ARE MINE ALONE! You have no idea how much skill and experience and research it takes to become a photoshop wizard of my caliber!



































Not really, hah. Corel Paint Shop Pro (my photo editor of choice) has a fancy little 'Smart Photo Fix' utility under the 'Adjustments' tab. A window pops up with sliders that adjust the shadows, highlights, overall brightness, saturation, sharpness, blacks, whites, and optionally color balance. It will automatically choose what it THINKS is best for the photo, but it's always (well, 99% of the time) completely wrong. I just hit default and tinker with the sliders to what I think looks best.