Inspiring Photo: Sophia #13456812

Sophia

Uploaded: October 22, 2012

Description

My niece Sophia, who served as flower girl at my sister Kathleen's wedding in Iceland this summer; having worked up a thirst after her wedding duties!

Exif: F Number: 4, Exposure Bias Value: -0.33, ExposureTime: 1/15 seconds, Flash: did not fire, compulsory flash mode, ISO: 100, White balance: Auto white balance, FocalLength: 47.00 mm, Model: Canon EOS 7D

Comments

Chris Budny October 22, 2012

Shot handheld, indoors, side window light, with a little girl who doesn't stand still much at all... ;) I'm *NOT* a people photographer by tradition, so feel free to let me know where all this image is off. Her right eye (ie closest to left edge of image) was pretty soft; I cloned her other eye over it to try and enhance the sharpness there - I think my DOF was just too shallow (trying to get a fast shutter speed at the time.) #1493912

Stephen Shoff October 22, 2012

I'm not a people photographer either, so I seldom comment on these. However, I think this one is pretty incredible. In particular, I like the color combinations. To me, the green straw is a great accent. I'll let others comment on DOF. The catch light in the left eye is exemplary and probably makes the rest fall into place. The soft texture and almost translucence in the hand is pretty unusual, too.

Welcome to the club. #10380337

Elaine Hessler October 23, 2012

Wow-I didn't even notice the softness of the eye until you mentioned it. This is beautiful and I like the tilt. The subject is adorable and I like the use of the filter (?). Gives it a nice touch. #10380526

Debbra Bailey October 23, 2012

I think this is beautiful as well. A great moment :) Her main eye is sharp, and I didn't notice the softness of the other one either.... you did a great job using the cloning! #10380687

Aimee C. Eisaman October 23, 2012

Love the diagonal feel to the composition. You got in nice and tight to eliminate the background which is great. If this were a shot of one of my kids I'd probably go the extra mile to black out or remove anything remaining in the background. Slight DOF differences in eyes never have bothered me esp. in lighting like this. In the way of suggestions based on my personal taste I would say to use the dodge tool set to highlights on her eyes...not too much though. You also might want to do an adjustment layer and selectively desaturate the cyan channel because I'm seeing that color cast on her face or maybe it's blue...you'd see once you started playing with it. Some may say to add a warming filter to this, but I like cool images esp. with window light so if you want to give it a try and see what it looks like go for it. :~) #10380689

Michael Kelly October 23, 2012

Chris as I warned you sometimes you will get conflicting opinions and suggestions.

First I think this is a wonderful shot. I like the hand and glass position and as Stephen mentioned the straw. I don't disagree with Aimee as to the white balance as the cool light from the window makes this rather cool overall shot work as shown. I would prefer it warmer as I don't care for the tones in the whites of the eyes. One click of the white balance tool on the white portion of the photo left eye will show you what a different look you could achieve here. Of course you could also selectively change the WB of the eyes and leave the rest cool if that is your preference after having seen a warmer version.

The DOF is a bit to narrow for the shot and I think it would have been even better with just a stop more, however the shot works as shown and there is not a lot more you can do about that than you have already done.

Great first post and again welcome to the club. #10381025

Chris Budny October 23, 2012

Thanks for the inputs... something fun to explore tonight when I get home! I do think the whites of her eyes need some work, now that you mention it. I may attempt to clone out or deeply darken the diagonal white "rectangle" above her left shoulder. I don't mind the cooler tones on her skin, but I may try a warm-up too---the combination of NIK filters I applied to this image is still saved as a Recipe, so I can see what I did---I think I put a Sunlight in the mix (which would have warmed it up a bit from the original.) I should post the original here, too, so you can see that... #10381118

Chris Budny October 23, 2012

Uploading original RAW capture. #10381120

Chris Budny October 23, 2012

Rework based on thread feedback.
1. adjusted white & brightness of eyes.
2. lightly warmed the lit side of her face.
3. lightly Screen-brightened the shaded side of her face, shoulder, hand.
4. darkened unwanted background elements that stood out.
5. spot fix attempt on darker area under her left eye, and faint darker streak across her lower right cheek. #10381359

Michael Kelly October 23, 2012

Very nice work - I like it all and for me a positive change. I especially like the now white areas of her eyes and think they look very good. #10381568

Chris Budny October 24, 2012

Thanks again for all the suggestions! I uploaded the final version (a few more tiny tweaks yet again, late last night) here:

http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/big.php?photoID=13460198 #10381889

Debbra Bailey October 24, 2012

Ohh - even more beautiful! Great job on the edits! #10382028

Susan M. Reynolds October 24, 2012

What a sweet moment you captured of the little girl who rarely sits still! Love the diagonal POV & really like the final edit...looks much better. #10382639

Jeff E Jensen October 24, 2012

Sorry I'm late to the party. Your edits are a nice improvement. For not being a people shooter, you did good!

By the way, I'm in Philly till Friday morning, you should catch a train and come on up :o) #10382656

Chris Budny October 24, 2012

Thanks again for all the ideas... I really like the final version, from where I started!
Jeff---I wish I could---an easy train ride, and so much to photograph... alas, no time off from work right now :( #10382881

Teresa H. Hunt October 24, 2012

Wonderful shot Chris. I love the edits.

She looks like a sweet girl, with just a touch of michevious :) #10382981

Chris Budny October 25, 2012

Thanks, Teresa! You've pegged her personality! #10383274

Peter W. Marks October 25, 2012

Oh, 'Them there eyes' Christopher!!
Only Dale will remember when Billie Holliday first recorded that song in 1939! I was a only a few moths old then.
I always leave it to others to brighten, sharpen, crop, blend, straighten, color-correct, etc etc and bless them; and while they are re-arranging all those pixels I contentedly enjoy how images speak to me. #10383437

Beth Spencer October 25, 2012

Your edits are great! She is a beautiful young lady and you really captured a great moment I time quite well! #10383633

Chris Budny October 25, 2012

Thanks again! #10383776

Chris Budny October 25, 2012

...Yay! The final edit just got an EP, so it is officially in the running ;) Thanks again for all the suggestions! #10383815

Debbie E. Payne October 25, 2012

Things have been nuts all week but I will be commenting on everything I've missed over the next day or so. I love this picture of Sophia, Chris. What was great to begin with is now even better. Such a beautiful little girl and you captured her personality so well. Are you sure you aren't into portraiture?? I am like Stephen - don't comment much on the technical aspects of people shots because I don't have much of an opportunity to do any people shots. I am taking a three hour class next Saturday on taking better people shots with any camera. Probably will be pretty basic but that's where I am with this kind of photography. Should be fun! #10384569

Chris Budny October 26, 2012

Thanks, Debbie! Keep me posted on your class---I shrink from the thought of photographing people, myself! #10384982

Aimee C. Eisaman October 27, 2012

Your edits of this look great...a very nice portrait! :~) #10386259

Chris Budny October 28, 2012

Thanks, Aimee! #10387908

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