Untitled

Please comment. Thanks

 

Bala

I loved these kids so much. I hope you took more pictures of them. The composition bothers me a little, maybe a tighter square format would be better. It is a great image.

Bala, I can't even get into any disagreement about this composition. The content goes way beyond any compositional matter. I surely hope these girls stay this close all their lives....Jim

Sevtap and Jim, Thank you for your comments. Sevtap, I was also little bit bothered about the composition, I thought of making a square cropping, but I also don't want to cut-off the hands. I'll post a square format of this image, let's see how it works out. I did not get an opportunity to take many more pictures of these girls, as they are in a playful mood that day. This is one of the good images of them posing for the shot.

 

Jim, These girls are very good friends and they love each other very much. They live in the same street so they get to play a lot.

 

Bala

Balachandra- Thank you for the lovely comment on my "Expressions" image. I love the expression in this image. I hope you don't mind, but I played a little in PS & changed a few minute things that bothered me. Nothing major, because the major stuff you got just right! I couldn't help but want to change this to a tritone and add some warmth, because of the warmth you captured. Hope you don't mind. Keep up the super work!

Tritone. I also ran this through Neat Image to help smooth out the jpeg of the web image. I think it helps smooth their skin. They are adorable!

 

Here's what I did in PS. I evened out the older girl's dress, the high contrast was a little distracting. I accentuated the small catch light in the little girl's eyes. I evened out the color of the older girl's neck just a little and I removed the background. I cropped in and used Neat image to smooth the jpeg. What was lost in downsizing are the hair highlights of the little girl, they're wonderful and they are there, it's just that when you decrease the size they are less noticeable. So I dodged them in.

The cropping down on the top does look nice, but may be a little tight. I like the original background, it give a nice, subtle setting to the picture. On your revision I like the dodging on the bottom of the big girl's dress but it looks a little too much on the face. It doesn't look natural.

It may be my eyes or monitor but it looks like the focus is not quite on their faces and may be on the big girls front arm.

If you had time, A reflector or a really careful fill-flash would give a nice glow to the front of the picture and bring out their faces well.

I like the B&W better myself.

This is an outstanding picture. Congratulations.

Jayme, Thank you for your encouraging comments and suggestions. Encouraging comments are always inspiring for a beginner. I like the cropping, smoothing of the dress, background change and tritone. Both the versions are quite different and very good. I have never used tritone and Neat Image before, I've learned something new today which I will experiment more. I started learning PS few months back so I'm very much a beginner in this area.

 

Michael, Thank you for your comments and encouraging words. I have not used any reflector or fill-flash in this image, I agree with your suggestion about more light on the front of the picture.

 

Regards,

Bala

Michael is right, a reflector would have helped. I don't know about the rest of you but usually.... when situations like this occur, I never have the right flash or a reflector on hand :) Although I do have a collapsible reflector I SHOULD carry over my shoulder in it's handy bag:) I have just recently gotten the hang of using a reflector. I know, I know, in theory they should be easy. And you are right, but..... in reality I think I was making them a lot harder than they really are. I read multiple articles and books on using reflectors, but all failed to mention the obvious, how to decide on the directional placement of the reflector in relationship to the subject. I guess the writers assumed the reader would just know. Now that I do understand reflectors, I shake my head and say, "Duh". Simply put, aim the reflector at the area you want to increase the light, if you can't move the subject, (which is most times) don't worry about where the extraneous light is coming from. The reflector will do the rest. The bigger the reflector the more area will be covered (Duh). I feel stupid, but I honestly did NOT understand this simple premise.

Warmth & love is what I detect in this photo. Lovely composition. Jayme's version has enhanced the contrast & sharpness of the image.