A girl and her pup

[Nat]

or more contrast

[AndyB1975]

You have captured a really lovely moment in time there. The second is better in my eyes, the first looks a bit 'washed out'. Nice picture.

[Sahil]

Hi Nat,
+1 to having captured a nice moment here.
But to me, even the second picture, which is definitely better than the first one, looks washed out & a bit flat.

[lightdrunk]

Is there a color version?

[Nat]

#1


#2


On my monitor the second B&W doesn't seem flat....what would you suggest I adjust to make it less flat? It may be that the original image is just too flat, taken in the shade....But thank you for the comments!! Hmm, the colors in #1 in the color version seem odd.......They seem to change from what I see on my monitor and from when I upload to photobucket. Oh, well.

[Donald]

On my monitor the second B&W doesn't seem flat....what would you suggest I adjust to make it less flat?

Local Contrast Enhancement.

Don't know if you're familiar with that as a technique. If not, click here for the CiC tutorial. Definitely the greatest thing ever invented for making images 'pop'.

Hope you don't mind, but this is an example of what difference it can make.

[Nat]

I don't mind you trying, but, Donald, I put your image and my B&W side by side on my 24 inch monitor, and I'll be darned if I can see any difference. Either that, or my eyes are getting old and worn out....here are side by side my version and the one you posted. I am not trying to be "smart", I am trying to understand. Thank you! Well, if I stare, I might notice mine has a bit more grey tones, and yours might be a bit more B&W in some areas and a bit sharper is some, too.....I will go try that tutorial.
Thanks, again.

[AndyB1975]

Great work Donald, looks wonderfull now. That really is a picture to cherish for when they both grow up.

Nat, I have noticed the same issues when uploading from photobucket, along with a loss in sharpness. From info on this site I have started to use Tinypic and this seems much more reliable.

[Donald]

Well, if I stare, I might notice mine has a bit more grey tones, and yours might be a bit more B&W in some areas and a bit sharper is some,

Nat - Hope you find that tutorial useful.

There's no difference in tone at all. I never touched anything other than applying the LCE. That's the effect of it. It's working on the edges to really make one tone separate out from another and the effect is to give the impression of adjusting the tones. I think the 'trick' with LCE is to use it in a subtle way. Over do it and you kill the image. I think the difference between your original and my re-work can bee seen if you look at the hair, both on the girl and the dog, and maybe her lips and her eyelashes.

[Nat]

I'm beginning to see it....at first glance, it was hard to pin point the differences. Thanks.

[vladimir]

I am REALLY sorry to bring this up, and it's not exactly the photographic issue, and this problem probably only exists in my twisted mind, and not in reality - but to me the photo at hand looks like the dog is being played with too rough, and the dog is actually in pain. What contributes to this impression is how strained girl's left hand is, and my belief that people should never hold dog's legs like that at all. To me - second photo (where the girl hugs the dog) is much-much better.

[Nat]

Vladamir, I can understand how it "appears", but I can assure you it isn't so....that pup was trying to lick her face and they ran around playing and giggling and no pain inflicted at all. But I understand what you are saying. Do you have children and have they ever played with puppies??? Probably a different pose would be better to not "look" like the pup is being manhandled....but, still trying to learn to edit this photo.....Donald, I can't quite follow that tutorial.....it assumes I know more than I do, and leaves out some steps critical for me to follow. Are they using unsharp mask? Do they create 3 layers, one dark, one blurred, one original and they use the overlay mode? ? I guess I am too novice to follow.

[vladimir]

Do you have children and have they ever played with puppies???

I have children in my house for the last 30 years, and I have dogs for the last 20 (or so)
And for the last 20 years I try to protect my dogs from my children.
It's ongoing struggle with intermittent successes and failures. Generally - my dogs are much gentler to my children than other way around.

Probably a different pose would be better to not "look" like the pup is being manhandled

Yep. That's exactly what I was trying to say. I didn't try to accuse you or your daughter in animal abuse. Not at all! Sorry if it sounded like I did.