First attempt at BW Layer Masking C&C

[ssracer]

My wife wanted a picture to put in a frame for her Grandmother for Christmas, so I decided to play with one I took of our son a couple of weeks ago.

The hat was easy, but I went back and forth on the cheeks for a while before I got something I liked. I just went off of a quick GIMP tutorial that I found online.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk133/ssracer77/Caden/IMG_0216_1.jpg

[ieatmiraclegrow]

i honestly don't like the cheeks, they are too orangey for me, but maybe that is what you were going for, otherwise, nice job!

[PETERSYMES]

The detail is good as is the focus (DOF on his face) I like the B+W Conversation but not so sure about the selective colour on the hat, the colour on the cheeks doesn't do it for me, looks out of place.
The image looks slightly over exposed to me (some of the highlights are just clipped) and what looks like direct hard flash has created a deep shadow to the immediate right of his mouth making it look like he has been eating mud.:D

[ssracer]

Well...chances are he probably had been eating mud...lol

Right now I only have the built in flash so I don't have many options there yet. I did buy one of those Puffer diffusers which seems to help a bit (cheap temporary fix) but did not have it when this picture was taken.

I probably should have done something with the original image to rosy-up the cheeks a bit before doing the mask. The over exposure could easily have been from me playing around during pp and not really knowing what I am doing yet...lol

Thanks for the comments, I love learning more about photography and how to do better.

[ieatmiraclegrow]

Here's my edit in CS4, I redid the cheeks, just put a soft brush on them with a very low opacity. Then i cloned out the booger in his nose :D. Then cloned out the white dot in the background. Then selected the white in the hat and i lowered the brightness to bring out the exposure.
http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr11/ieatmiraclegrow/asgasdgadhafdg.jpg

[ieatmiraclegrow]

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr11/ieatmiraclegrow/asgasdgadhafdg.jpg
^there we go

[PETERSYMES]

http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/rr11/ieatmiraclegrow/asgasdgadhafdg.jpg
^there we go

A small URL Problem:confused:

Oh there you are...must have been a timing issue??

[PETERSYMES]

Oop's the tonal range in the fur of his hat has got too compressed, it is starting to solarise.
Would be better to use the exposure tool in PS, or best still if shot in RAW adjust the exposure there.


Hows the full colour shot as a matter of interest?

[ssracer]

OK, that looks better! Thanks! :D

[ssracer]

I normally do shoot in raw (now :D), but I had only had the camera a few days at this point and was just shooting in portrait mode.

I don't have PS right now, only Gimp, and I still don't know how to use everything in that...lol

Here is the original color shot you requested:
http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk133/ssracer77/Caden/IMG_0216.jpg

[ieatmiraclegrow]

Sorry about the double post, i posted it on photobucket then deleted it then put it back on :D, Peter, where would i find the exposure tool just for future reference?

[PETERSYMES]

Sorry about the double post, i posted it on photobucket then deleted it then put it back on :D, Peter, where would i find the exposure tool just for future reference?

What version of PS do you have?

[ieatmiraclegrow]

CS4

[PETERSYMES]

I like the colour version myself.
Plenty of colour details in the shot for interest, i took the liberty of having a little play in PS...Hope you don't mind.
What handsome chap:D

[PETERSYMES]

CS4

Well you are ahead of me...I'm on CS3 despite what my sig says.
In CS3 It's under Image > Adjustments > Exposure

[ieatmiraclegrow]

O ok, thanks

[ssracer]

I like the colour version myself.
Plenty of colour details in the shot for interest, i took the liberty of having a little play in PS...Hope you don't mind.
What handsome chap:D

OK, if I knew how to do that in pp, I wouldn't bother upgrading my flash...lol. Looks like it was shot with studio lighting. Nice work.

And thanks, yeah he's a keeper...lol