Help with PP of street shot needed

[altopiet]

Hi, I took this shot at 300mm hand held. I know it is not the best of shots IQ wise, one of my first shots with a new lens. The image is a downsized jpeg of the original RAW image with no PP, and the second, best I could come u with in PP (still have a lot to learn about PS, and PP in general).
I would like you're C+C on my PP attempt, and if you like, show me what you would have done in PP get a better end result. Any tips are welcome

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Christo,

Not bad at all, but if I had been doing the PP, I would;
a) not have raised the exposure quite so much (it is now to bright on her back and shoulder)
b) not cropped quite so tight across the bottom of the shot (leave a little more space under the red bag)
c) cloned out the green spot on edge of frame on right
in turn b) would also have meant;
d) clone out the pale stone leaning against the kerb
e) while there, I'd tidy up some of the other bits down by her feet and the red bag, again with cloning

However, you may have consciously decided that your street photography should not have stuff cloned out - it was there on the street and should be there in the shot - and that's fine too.

I'd say you're off to a good start, you clearly put her where she is to focus correctly and then a little crop to improve composition in PP.

Well done,

[Donald]

Yep, I'd go with what Dave said.

That spot on the right wasn't so prominent when it was well inside the frame, but now that it's tight on the edge of the frame, it really hits you.

Re the adjusting of the exposure - It's a pretty bleak and dark scene, so don't brighten it up too much. Keep the mood sombre and use lighting to help you achieve that. How about looking at it as a B & W?

[Dave Humphries]

How about looking at it as a B & W?

Yeah I missed that, excellent idea, as the reds really draw the eye from her face - may avoid some of the cloning then too.

[altopiet]

Thanks for looking Dave, unfortunately I was not on spot metering at that stage, which might have helped with the exposure of her dark skin versus the light background, but I see what you mean in a)
I can now also see that the spot you mentioned in c) might be a bit distracting.
I would rather go with your b), and not clone out the clutter, as I feel that it all adds to the mood of the shot. I see a young mother with a baby somewhere, perhaps financial problems, feeling down and in the gutter so to speak...

[AndyB1975]

Re the adjusting of the exposure - It's a pretty bleak and dark scene, so don't brighten it up too much. Keep the mood sombre and use lighting to help you achieve that. How about looking at it as a B & W?

I have to agree with this. The under exposure of the original shot adds to the obvious sad emotions this lady was going through. The emotions get a little lost with the brightening. Quiet a sad thought provoking picture.

[altopiet]

Thanks for your comments Donald. I tried some new PP, what do you think? The B+W seems a bit flat to me.

[altopiet]

Thanks for looking Andy all comments are appreciated.

Edit, I really should make some time to practice my PP, usually I just do some auto stuff and a bit of sharpening. unfortunately there are not many rainy days where I live

[Donald]

Thanks for your comments Donald. I tried some new PP, what do you think? The B+W seems a bit flat to me.

For me, definitely. Taking out the colour focuses our attention much more on the lady and the burdens she seems to have.

I think you've made a really good job of that. You could if you wanted go further with grain effects and work to make it more moody. I hope you don't mind me doing so (please say if you do and I'll remove it), but just to show one example of how you could go with it ......

I used Nik's Silver Efex Pro 2 on your original JPG. I added a, hopefully, subtle vignette that is centred on her head, so there is more of it showing at the left. I also applied the AGFA APX Pro 100 film effect to put a bit of grain into it. And I applied a red filter effect. I thought that might help a bit on both the bags she had but also on the skin tone. This type of skin tone has a lot of red, so applying red filter lightens a bit and brings more detail back in.

I hope this gives you some ideas for thinking about future B & Ws. Although not everyone uses the same software, our exchanges of ideas can help us think of alternatives in the future.



Just comparing the two (yours and mine). I think yours is better.

[altopiet]

No problem with editing it Donald, it looks much better the way you did it, even the B+W seems to pop, thanks for taking the time, and to everyone for the positive C+C