Before and After Blog Hop
Its been a while since I've had the inspiration (and time!) to participate in Monica's "Before and After" blog hop on Thursdays. Photo editing is NOT my strong suit. I really need to take a class and have someone show me the ins and outs of Photoshop.
So, for now, I stick with GIMP and Picnic. They're both free. You can't beat that!
Here's my SOOC (straight out of the camera) shot of Jayce watering the flowers:
Canon XTi
85 MM 1.8
f/ 3.2
1/1000
ISO 100
Shooting in full sun is always challenging. But I couldn't pass up the cute moment and say, "Hey Jayce... I know you want to water flowers right now, but can you wait until about 7:30 PM when I know there will be good backlight from the setting sun? Thanks."
So I played with it in Picnic for a bit. Adjusted the exposure and contrast. Used the "cross processing" feature on the program. (Don't ask me what that means 'cause I have no clue. I just liked the effect). Added a bit of vignette. Adjusted saturation.
I definitely like the overall appearance of the photo better. However, when I lightened up the picture, I realized that you really can't see Jayce's face very well because of the angle in which he's bent over. And it is his face that your eye is naturally drawn to because of the rule of thirds. Hmmm... I guess this is a good example of how post processing can make a great photo awesome, but cannot make a not-so-techincally-good photo any better than it is.
Back to the drawing board :)
Nice job! Clean and simple.
ReplyDeletelove the warmth you added.
ReplyDeleteI like it! :)
ReplyDeleteI've been using Picasa until I finally got Photoshop. I still use Picasa for quick fixes, but Photoshop is super! CS5 is now out... you should try to get it. Oh, you'll be having tons of fun with it.
I think both of them are great pictures! I can't do any of it!
ReplyDeleteoh, i could kill a whole evening on picnik ;)
ReplyDeleteSo cute, nice and bright!
ReplyDelete{I think somehow I ended up un-following you...how does that happen? anyway I'm adding you back to my list.}
Very nice! Loved the edit.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo! I thought the first one was the edit because the color and lighting is so good!
ReplyDeleteThe edit is nice- I like the soft look of it.
Both your shots have great color, natural light is so much fun to shoot in!
ReplyDeleteThe colors in the second are outstanding:)
Great job! Hope you get a chance to visit my blog:)
Great shot...and I love the lighting and color in both. The color in the edit is awesome, also. :) GOod job!
ReplyDeletereally pretty!
ReplyDeleteI love the vignette! And I know exactly what you mean about the timing! I hate when I miss the good light! I've found a golden hour calculator that's great for planning when to take photos. This is it. http://www.golden-hour.com/
ReplyDelete