Thread: Jumping in! 2 snaps for CC

These are just snaps of my kids. I've just started to try editing my photos and it's hard! The first one I tried to do a clean edit and the second one I used a preset and then tweaked it a bit. We have crappy light in our house, so I know the SS is too slow in most.

1.
f 2.0
SS 1/60
ISO 400

IMG_6461 by willis2485, on Flickr

2.
f 2.8
SS 1/125
ISO 400

IMG_7115 by willis2485, on Flickr

Glad you're jumping in! I totally understand the crappy light. Some days I swear I live in a cave! haha! What camera do you have? Looks like you could have bumped up your ISO in both of these to get a faster SS.

#1 - Yes, you shutter speed is quite low here. Though, at this size, it doesn't look that bad. You must have pretty steady hands! The biggest thing I notice is the hand chop. I like your clean edit here, and you got some amazing light in his eyes.

#2 - I, honestly, would suggest staying away from presets and actions until you've worked out how to edit on your own. (Processing is something I'm still working on myself) This looks very yellow. And while you may have an image that "screams" to have a vintage/yellow look to it, I don't think this is it. So, my suggestion is to do a clean edit, and to clone out the thumb on the bottom. It won't be as obvious that you chopped the hand off. In fact, you may never even know with those two adorable, smiling faces to look at

Thanks, Stephanie! I'll go back and edit it again. Can I clone out things in Lightroom? I have Photoshop Elements, but it always crashes on me and I get frustrated

Well, I there's the healing brush, but I haven't had a chance to figure out how to work it properly yet. (I've only had it for a few weeks now) I'm not sure exactly where it decides to heal from. I would take it into Elements. Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling it to see if that helps with the crashing?

I found the clone in Lightroom. Worked pretty well, but I'm going to need the boys' nap time for this edit. The SOOC is fairly soft, but I just love it because they're both looking, so I can't throw it out! I'll post my re-edit later today.

Oh, yeah, definitely don't toss it!! It's a great photo! Who cares if it's a little soft?

Here's my new edit. What do you think?


IMG_7115-2 by willis2485, on Flickr

Yes, much better Though, I do think I'd warm it up just a tad, because I think it's starting to get a little blue now.

1st image, my first reaction was wow! I really like where he is placed as well as the stuffed dog. I didn't notice the hand chop till after I took a second look and now is is distracting but without the hand chop I really do like this shot!

2nd, I am not good at editing at all so take this with a grain of salt but at first it looked like on camera flash to me and was too yellow. I do think your second edit is much better

Limb chops are something I definitely need to work on! We have 2 spots in our house that have ok light, so it makes a tight shooting.

The first edit definitely looks yellow! It's funny how you can be editing and think 'this looks great!' and then when you go back and compare it side by side you really notice how awful it is!