How do I edit these pics?

[bjames]

I have always been interested in photgraphy and have recently started taking it seriously as a hobby.
I have purchased my first DSLR kit (Nikon) and am starting to dabble in editing.

I am attaching the originals of some photos I took yesterday and my attempts at editing them. I played around with the histogram levels, brightness, constrast, and sharpening. I also applied a warming filter to the photos.

I would love opions about how I did with the editing as well as tips of what I need to still do and/or shohuld have done!

Original 1:


Edited:


Original 2:


Edited:

[Inkanyezi]

I would not apply any warming filter on those images, but I would modify the tone curve a bit, to adjust for what I see as a slight under-exposure. The AWB has done a reasonable job in the mixed light, with warm light from the interior lighting and what looks like it might be daylight from front. There is no way to balance the colours of the light, but when the image gets a bit brighter, it is less obvious.

Most light sources may be white balanced rather well, but when different light sources are illuminating an image, there will always be colour casts on various parts of it.

[Polar01]

I would agree, the warming filter takes away from the image, it makes it too warm. I had the same coloured Lab, and the orginals are closest to the correct colour. Most modern day camera AWB do a great job of getting the correst colour, so only a small correction is needed if at all. Nice looking pooch.

Cheers:

Allan

[Dave Humphries]

Hi "bjames",

I'm not sure if you are "James", or "Mr. James" - could you possibly Edit your Profile and add your first name and Location in the appropriate fields please? - thanks.

I basically agree with Urban and Allan, however, I suspect that without the warming filter, his/her face is going to come out too blue (and that's why you used it).

I see from the EXIF data you have Photoshot Elements 6 - with that, you could duplicate a new top layer, apply the warming filter to the Background layer only, then erase the blue faced top layer with a soft edged brush to reveal the warmer one below.

Before you save again as a jpg, you'll need to flatten the layers.

If you've never done anything like this before, you'll learn a lot
Just make sure you work on a (copy) version saved with a different filename, then if it all goes wrong, you can start again.

Welcome to the CiC forums from ....

[bjames]

Thank you everyone for all this great advise! Of course, I only just realized that I made the newbie editing mistake of not saving a photoshop file version of my edits, so I'll either be starting over or keeping all these great tips in mind!

Hi "bjames",

I'm not sure if you are "James", or "Mr. James"

Dave - I'm a Missus and the dog is a Mister LOL I haven't done that Photoshop trick before, but definitely excited to try and learn!

I'll be jumping into all of these tips head first!

[MrB]

Brielle, you might like to experiment with Local Contrast Enhancement during your processing of these images. There is a very good explanation and instruction in the Tutorials (linked at the top of this page). Including LCE along with your other adjustments can help to bring out the textures, e.g. in the fur:



Philip

[bjames]

Philip,

I just read the LCE tutorial, great advise!!
I've still got a lot to learn about photoshop/editing, but this forum has proven very helpful so far!!

[Ryogenetic]

Brielle welcome to CiC, can you talk to us about your workflow. Here is a quick edit of your first pic:



The LCA was applied according to the Jiro Effect, but first and foremost, I set the levels and did the white balance. (this negates the need for a warming layer) A few final touches with some dodge/burn on the eyes and the the rest of the body for some more depth.

Ryo

[bjames]

So the more I look at it, the less I like my edits on the second picture.
But for the first pic I first adjusted the brightness and contrast, I then adjusted the levels, and finished with the warming filter. I realize that I could have sharpened it as well, but it wasn't until I read Philip's comment that I tried that.

[orlcam88]

Also keep in mind to straighten the picture. Not so much the first one but more on the second one. It rises up from left to right. I also noticed that the eyes where enhanced on the second one. This is a good modeling technique (called catch eye). This was a good idea, I would just tone it down a bit so the reflection is not so bright.