Last edit for the night...

Last edit, done on the great advice of bob_r. Much better than my last 100 attempts at getting the skin tone right with this photo

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To me it appears some tones have been compressed and become muddy. Her forearm and pinky finger show it the most.

Don't get too obsessed about editing it can become a wormhole. The edit definitely looks better the the original edit.

To the lesser-trained eye, and probably the general public, this photograph is fantastic as it is now.

Thank you so much for that comment. I think that being so new at it, you just can't judge for yourself very well. That is also something that needs to be learned, I believe. I'm learning photography and editing through books and the internet and it's been challenging but oh so much fun at the same time.

Very true. Editing can drive u mad!

The faint bit of blue to the right of her head is driving me mad. If you wanted a solid black background, make sure it's solid black. If you wanted the colorful highlight behind the head, make it seem more intentional. The orangeish horizontal stripe just above her shoulder is also a bit odd.

I'd also clone out the spot (dust) near the top of the photo about 1/4 of the way from the right side.

Thank you for your comments. The background was a dark blue sheet that I was trying to make black. The orange looking stipe is a piece of the red chair she was sitting in. I need to get rid of it, as it's the only piece of the chair you can see.

For what it's worth.

To make sure that blue actually goes to black in Photoshop, I usually will do a new hue/saturation layer and create a layer mask using the -> select -> 'color range' with the fuzziness as needed to get everything that is the blue. Then adjust the hue/saturation to make sure the blue goes to black.

I'm sure someone else here can come up with 10 other ways that are easier and/or more convenient.

Thanks... I always appreciate photoshop tips. I've gotten some great ones from you guys ߘ

Here's my take on this one.

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Greatly prefer Kristine's.

Pippan wrote in post #18471697
Greatly prefer Kristine's.

Me too, just for something different.

#1 image looks great! Good work!

Keep klicking with that D30, it will treat you right!

Andrew

Thank you for your nice comment