All-American girl
Uploaded: October 16, 2010
Exif: F Number: 2.8, Exposure Bias Value: 0.33, ExposureTime: 1/3200 seconds, Flash: did not fire, compulsory flash mode, ISO: 400, White balance: Manual white balance, FocalLength: 50.00 mm, Model: Canon EOS 50D
Jeff E Jensen October 16, 2010
Very nice, Pete! I like the strong side/back lighting, though it could probably be toned down just a bit.The past few days, there has been a couple of guys that could be her brothers, selling potatoes on the corner down the street from my neighborhood. I need to try and grab a shot of them. #1318292
Peter W. Marks October 17, 2010
Thanks Jeff. I was anticipating that responses would mention the overbright left side of the image but couldn't decide how to deal with that. As at every one of the saturdays at our farmers market there was a clear blue sky and a very bright sun that gave me a problem with very contrasty images. Her face was in deep shadow and I think I did a reasonable job of bringing that up but her cap and sleeve were so bright that my limited PS skills were defeated. I would be more than happy for anyone to make a screen grab and show me how to achieve that.Brenda K. Beatty October 17, 2010
I think overall you did well getting her face lit. I know from trying to get photos of my boys with ball caps it's hard to light the face without blowing everything else way out. Boys never go anywhere without caps...so I really need to learn how. #8976372Teresa H. Hunt October 17, 2010
I also think you did a great job getting her face lit. And yes . . . ball caps are hard.I like this image . . . and your right Pete, it is an American icon . . . especially in the mid-west. You don't see many people dressed like this on the west coast . . . #8977481
Kathleen Nealon October 17, 2010
Pete,Michael Kelly October 17, 2010
Peter for sure the all American girl depicted in this one. Keep shooting these as you have a knack for them. You just need to work on some of the basics a bit.This is not a totally recoverable shot but I ran it through a few things to see if it could be improved.
A couple things to note. Since you get up close and personal with these shots you might try using fill flash to mitigate the high contrast bright light conditions of these market shots. A good flash with a gold reflector attached should really help in these conditions.
I know it is difficult because of the tight spaces. but it would be better if you could mitigate the BG a bit through use of a narrower DOF or shooting at a different angle.
In this particular shot The comp is off quite a bit because of the direction she is looking. She should have space to look into. Unless you have already cropped this photo in order to correct the comp it becomes necessary to eliminate some of the nice elements at the bottom of the shot. If you do have more just move her to the left of the frame.
Corrections on the bright areas included 100% on the recovery slider, about 5 shadows and 8 highlights, a selective reduction in exposure of .25 stops on the brightest areas, a selective Gaussian blur on the BG, a reduction of the yellow channel saturation, and a reduce noise pass. Still not great but here it is. #8978025
Aimee C. Eisaman October 18, 2010
I bet she's not afraid to get her hand dirty or break a nail! LOL I agree with the technical aspects of this image that the others are talking about, but what is bothering the heck out of me is that I can't read what is on her cap....can't figure out what it says!!! LOL :~) #8979692Peter W. Marks October 18, 2010
Thank you all for your responses and suggestions.Rita K. Connell October 19, 2010
with all that is said I think you caught the american girl very nicely. I think mike suggestion on the correction on the bright area will work well. #8982736Peter W. Marks October 19, 2010
Just a quick one Rita. Mike's adjustment thumbnail looked reasonable but when I clicked on it to make it full size it was really bad on my monitor. I also tried it on Elizabeth's computer and it was equally bad, So I am asking you and any others who care to help me with this to take a look at the full size image that Mike made and tell me what they see on the girl's right cheek which was over-highlighted in my original image. What I am seeing is a featureless area of white skin surrounded by a lurid pink. It looks like a case of severe burns where the flesh is trying to heal. Presumably Mike doesn't see this which is why I would like others to comment.Teresa H. Hunt October 19, 2010
I see what your talking about Peter. And I agree, I prefer the overexposed cheek. Though I wonder how much of it is because Mike was working on a small file. #8983341Aimee C. Eisaman October 19, 2010
I'd go with the overexposed over the other version, but I am sure the compressed screen shot they took didn't help any either! :~) #8983579Peter W. Marks October 19, 2010
Thanks ladies. I agree that there really isn't much one can do to improve a low resolution image where there just aren't enough pixels to make good the blown out areas. I guess I should try to work on the full size RAw image but I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that I should just make a better job of the exposure when making an image and save myself much grief! :0) #8983646Aimee C. Eisaman October 19, 2010
Peter I think you did very good with the exposure...your camera can't make HDR images. If you exposed for the highlights her face would have been very dark, but if you exposed only for the shadows the highlights would be horribly blown out. So you have to make the best decision you can at the moment. :~) #8983729Peter W. Marks October 19, 2010
You are very kind Aimee. Now let me show you what I had to work with and why I gave myself mucho grief! I just so liked the subject that I was prepared to resist pressing that delete button.Ellen H. Robertson October 19, 2010
Peter, you have such a great eye for capturing this candid shots.Exposure is difficult I think when trying to catch "the moment" of an unplanned people shot. Thanks to Aimee I am getting better at exposure and I have not ventured to candid people where the lighting is not always where you want it.
Anyway, I love the feel of this shot. She looks like she has had a long day and is ready to go home.
#8984108
Joan E. Hoffman October 19, 2010
Love the feel as well Peter. Hard to get a great unposed shot. Think you did really well to capture this as you did. She does look like she is more than ready to toss in the gloves for the night. #8984249Sign up for an interactive online photography course to get critiques on your photos.
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