need some help...

[blonde]

hey guys,

i was never a far of photographing people but lately i am quite enjoying it. i just finished take some pics of my 2 months old nepew (i love him so much), and i am ok with how it came out. however, i need some advice about this perticular photo because i would very much like to print it out and give it as a gift to my sister. as you can see, i tried working on it in PS but i am just not good enough. i am also looking for some advice on how i can make the image better.

here is the original, notice how much things i have to take out to make it clean:

http://blonde.smugmug.com/photos/74391241-L.jpg

now, here is my version and the look i am going for:

http://blonde.smugmug.com/photos/74388283-L.jpg


next, i would like to buy some backgrounds so i can do better job with my other newpew and niece but i will start a new thread asking for advice on what i should buy....

thanks

Snir

[blonde]

i have decided that i really don't like the way the black and white came out...

[song4themoon]

I cloned out the hand and band on the arm, used the spot healing brush to blend, desatured the red in his skin and reduced noise

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c132/Song4themoon/74391241-Ledit.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c132/Song4themoon/74391241-Leditbw.jpg

[dkenney]

SONG, you beat me to it... Very well done! May I ask, did you use a skin fix action and Neat Image, or NI alone? Or none of the above :)

[blonde]

thats fantastic Song!!! a few questions for you:

1) how did you convert to b&w? i can't seem to get it right no matter what?
2) is there any chance you can email me your 2 versions? i would like to have the full ones and not the resized ones...
3) what can i do to vring back the band? it is a meaningful item...

man, i am still shocked at how much better your version looks...

thanks again man :)

[dkenney]

blonde, do you have the TLR B/W conversion action and a noise reduction action?

http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/photoshop-tools.htm

[song4themoon]

I just remove color and then add a little contrast usually for a decent b&w

PM me your email adress and I will email you both pics, resized too so you can get prints.

I will redo it so the band is back in there, didnt know it was a meaningful item

[blonde]

i have noise ninja and thats about it. as you can see, i am very new to portraits and i am just blown away at how soft song image is!!! i would kill to have this kind of PS skill and know the workflow involved...

[blonde]

SONG- my email is snirgolan@hotmail.com

you do not need to resize them, i will do it with my photo lab. as for the band (free lesson about jewish people ;) ), this red band is from a rabbi in Israel and we put it on the baby arm when he is born to give him good luck and protect him from the evil eye...

again, thank you so much for the help. its people like you that makes this the best forum on the net and i can't thank you enough!!!

[blonde]

thanks Jenny!!!i got the images and they are fantatsic!!! sorry for calling you man, i always make that mistake :)

[blonde]

i actually feel kinda bad now, there is no way i can get these kinds of images.... does anybody have a good place where i can learn to edit like that? maybe some workflow tutorial that will teach me how to make kids images soft like that...

[song4themoon]

I have a book but have to say its useless. It is almost imnpossible to understand if you have very little knowledge in photoshop.. and the book is supposed to teach beginners!

The best way is to just try and try and try. Or I can recommend to sign up for a class at you community college.. they offer beginner classes for photoshop and that way you have someone actually show you and do it hands on!

[blonde]

i will look into a class at the new england photography school :)

[cinci-photo]

I love the babies eyes. Here's my take on it. I hope you like it. I left the little band in as well since it has sentimental meaning. Try picking up a copy of Photoshop for dummies. That along with a lot of practice will help. I'm not great either, but if you just play around, you'll be amazed at what you pick up.

http://static.flickr.com/73/163847138_bc6281b884_o.jpg