Which if these photo's looks better?

Guru · 11 Jul 2012 at 11:37

Hiya,

I've edited a photo of my daughters to make it black and white on the background but still with the red dresses, I've then edited it to remove some of the grass that was covering the dresses but I can't decide if it looks right.

I'm a complete photoshop noob so I'm more than up for some advice/criticism on this

Does it look ok with the grass/ better without? Both rubbish? lol

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/819/girlsn.jpg/

Thanks,

G

An Exception · 11 Jul 2012 at 11:51

Neither, selective colour makes me feel nauseous.
Stick to something a little more natural if you want it to stand the test of time, rather than a fad that been outdated for donkey's years.

Maybe post a link to the raw file so people can post how they would edit the picture, then you can decide which looks you like or don't like.

Talon · 11 Jul 2012 at 12:05

Selective colour to that extreme is a bit ott imo. Try adding the a similar effect you daughter entirely but with a more muted blend maybe.

a1ex2001 · 11 Jul 2012 at 13:25

With the grass, the other looks odd as your mind knows there should be grass.

I also agree the selective colouring is a bit nasty.

Schizophonic · 11 Jul 2012 at 13:31

both rubbish. Selective colour does not work at all IMHO. Maybe next time take photos in front of your daughter and not the back. If she was going to be walking away ask her to look back.

Don't waste your time on selective colouring, try to get it to look as clean and fresh in the photo by editing in something like LR4

Guru · 11 Jul 2012 at 13:41

Hi all

This is the original photo, it wasn't taken by me, it just happens to be of my daughters so I have a copy

I liked the idea of having it black and white rith the red dresses but I've never done any photo editing before so I don't know what I'm doing really lol

From the comments maybe I should stick to what I know LOL

http://photos.devlinuk.co.uk/action.php?id=158&part=h

An Exception · 11 Jul 2012 at 14:15

^^^
Original looks much better I'm afraid mate...

An Exception · 11 Jul 2012 at 14:29

You could maybe crop a little closer perhaps?

Schizophonic · 11 Jul 2012 at 15:10

if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

glitch · 11 Jul 2012 at 16:59

An Exception said:
You could maybe crop a little closer perhaps?

The crop frames things better, but by dialling up the saturation you've lost all the textures in the dresses and made them take on a garish tone.

If anything the photo needs a 'vintage' style approach; cutting down on the saturation across the board and allowing the red dresses to stand out without being too obtrusive.