Did I over do it

[3dog]

I took this picture of my wife in our back yard under an oak tree. My wife thought she was too round in the picture for her cap and gown. I wanted to play around, but nothing too extreme. Before and After. I need to work on the hair extensions a bit. My wife looked at it and said hhmmmff! What do you think? Where could I have done better? Thanks for your response.

[Nathan]

That's pretty dangerous territory you're treading into. If I were you, I wouldn't venture into this type of photo manipulation at all. You didn't do a bad job of slimming her face down... but the critical question is why? Even if she thought she was "round", it is my opinion that your job is then to tell her that she is beautiful... not to doctor her photos. It's one thing to clear up a few blemishes... this is a different minefield.

[CJinAustin]

I won't give any advice on marriage,,, but as far as the pic goes I think you did a good job. She looks about 40 lbs lighter and it doesn't look altered.

Whether it is "too extreme" is up to you,,, or possibly her...

[aroundlsu]

Next time get that 2008 perfectly straight. When I worked for a portrait studio I would get in trouble for that sort of thing (which is probably why I don't work there anymore).

Regarding the slimming of her face, I would have told her no for this type of picture. It's a graduation picture not a glamour shot. She will be showing her grandkids this picture in 40 years or so (in theory) so why let her misrepresent herself? As already stated, tell her she is beautiful the way she is.

[Sisyphus]

No one seems to mind whitening teeth, smoothing the skin or adding a bit of color, cloning off blemishes and birthmarks, etc. So what's wrong with photoshopping away a few pounds? I don't know exactly, but admittedly, the idea rubs me the wrong way. I suppose everyone must decide where to draw his or her own line in the sand.

In this case, her appearance has been altered so much that it's as if we're looking at a completely different individual -- a sister, perhaps. To me, it's more than a bit eerie.

[Flo]

First off, congratulations to her!An Accomplishment indeed.

I think she looks radiant, except for the white balance issue, in print she looks very greenish to me? Correct the contrast perhaps, a light sharpen to her eyes, and a small amount of glamour glow( or not) it softens the face:D

It is showing alot lighter here than on my site:confused:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/emmaloudawg/Meg-CapGown1.jpg

[korrektor]

we have all sinned, right?
I think this is a good thing that you slimmed down her face, but for the exercise purposes only. Yes you over done it. And it looks all right, but this is way too much, she doesn't look like herself. Play with angles instead of photoshop :))

Plus you did not too swell on the "hair job. it looks "dragged and dropped". Some tutorials on how to do this would help for sure. don't have links, my apologies.
my edit is coming up in 15 min ;:))

[korrektor]

listening to Rufus and Chaka Khan "Once you get Started" :)

sorry for telling you not to play with PS :) because I surely like to have fun with it :) ive never tried this before so the edited image is far from perfect... But it was just an exercise and intended for this purpose only.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/korr123/Meg-CapGown.jpg

[Sisyphus]

You are evil, Herr Korrektor. :evil:

[korrektor]

So i ve been told before :) again this is just my take on extreme retouching. The authors edit was already too much, so i thought what the heck, i'll take it a little further:)

[brennasg]

Yes this is a bit overdone... I feel like it is totally okay to do a tish of a slim down on a face. Just as long as they look the same. I will do this for my family and friends sometimes but they never even know I did it. That is what you have to work on:)

I would have just slimmed up her left side of her face and left it at that.