Thread: Pics of my Mom and watermark... CC pls

My mom and her husband have a wine business, and they needed some new pics to use on their website, so i offered. As it turns out my favorite ones are not the best for business use, but my Mom is glad to have them anyways. Here are a few of the ones I have PP'd so far. Please CC on anything I could have done better, composition wise, and PP. I feel like I'm at the point where I really need to step up my PP skills. I need to understand skin tones, which I totally don't.

These were all taken with my 50mm 1.4 in natural light, some in full sun, some in shade.

Also, I made a water mark, which I'm not satisfied with at all, but it will have to do until I get home to my tablet, and adobe illustrator. I used my middle and last name. My family is Danish, which is where the name Astrid comes from(my great nana) anyways, thats why I put the hearts there. I'm not sure if it looks better with or without the hearts. Thoughts?

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1250)
Aperture: f/2.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100
1.

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100
2.

Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/2.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100
3.

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100
4.

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/2.2
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100
How's the conversion?
5.

Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 100
6.

your mom is very pretty! that being said, I'm not a fan of the hair in her eyes. the first one, she's almost squinting, and that's the first thing I notice. I like the backlighting, but I think her hair is TOO blown. I love the second ... except for the hair in her eyes. I want to move it out of the way! skin color on your dad in the first is sickly - he needs more red, he looks green to me. focus is nice, but the whites of his eyes need to be fixed (after you get the color of his skin right). the one of the two of them looks a little soft to me (and compare your dad's skin here with the one above). the conversion of your mom is nice but I'd up the contrast a tiny bit. The last one almost looks like an outtake. I love how he's looking at her, but her eyes being closed just doesn't do it for me.

I think your watermark looks nice ... but using your middle name might confuse people down the road. btw, my dad's mom's name was Astrid.

What a lovely set!!!

The hair in the eyes doesn't bother me at all ... I think it sets a mood for the set and it really frames her face. And she's _really_ pretty!

The squint on the first one doesn't work really well, imho, but the rest of the set is really nice. My favorite is #5. Your conversion is great and I really feel an emotional connection to the subject. GREAT JOB!

I also really like the watermark, hearts and all. I think it works well and ties you to your heritage.

TFS!

Best,
GiGi

#1 love the blue in the background
#2 i dont mind the hair in her eyes either
#3 i like the background, but the comp isnt strong here
#4 my fave! very nice
#5 the conversion works very nicely here
#6 I wish her eyes werent closed, but comp is nice here as well!

Thank you for the CC ladies.

Gwen, what do you mean by fixing the whites of the eyes? Do they need to be whiter? I tried fixing the skin, hows this?


I added some contrast on this one, what do you think?


And you guys are right about the one of them together being soft. It looks like the focus fell on his Jacket. Hopefully when I get some time I'll find some sharper ones. I also agree that one last one looks a bit like an out take. I put it up anyways, because I thought it was a nice moment.

I agree with Gwen's cc. The color is still off in the second edit but it is better than the first. Did you shoot in RAW?

Originally Posted by stampasaurus

I agree with Gwen's cc. The color is still off in the second edit but it is better than the first. Did you shoot in RAW?

Yes, I did.

Wow, that's your mom? She is very pretty

1. I like this picture, I do agree that her hair is too blown.
2. The hair over her eyes is a bit distracting for me, but great composition.
3. Did you ran an action on this photo? He looks green on my end.
4. They look washed out and the focus fell on his jacket/
5. Nice composition and conversion, I may add a bit more black or contrast.
6. Doesn't really do anything for me.

Originally Posted by La123

Thank you for the CC ladies.

Gwen, what do you mean by fixing the whites of the eyes? Do they need to be whiter? I tried fixing the skin, hows this?

the whites of his eyes didn't look as white as they should be (not perfect white, cause that's too freaky) - they just looked off to me, like there was an overall color issue with the photo. I'm still seeing green when I look at him. maybe it's the rock/concrete behind him that's making him look greenish. convert it.

and the added contrast is nice in the conversion of your mom - is it a chocolate?

okay, this is a super quick play - I just used levels and the eyedroppers to get a better overall color. however, it's midnight and I'm SUPER tired, so what looks good to me now might not look good in the morning.

This is private in my flickr, I can take it down after you see it.