Maternity CC and PP help?

Hi all,

My husband, the non photographer, took this shot. How can I improve through PP? I know it is a little dark - the original is in RAW so I can work with levels etc. (Incidentally, I have DPP and Elements 2.0 for PP work).

My sepia version after some levels in elements:

Lovely shot!

I'd keep with the warm colours of the original, just play around with Levels

I think your edit is just about perfect. Great skin tones, looks like very natural lighting.

I prefer the sepia. The main flaw is the blown out window... sounds pretty strange perhaps, but sometimes these things can be improved dramatically simply by using a smudge tool and dragging some of the colour in from the surroundings, or in this case perhaps clone some curtain then smudge until it blends in a bit. I think in the original the heavier shadow around the neck prevented the eye being drawn out at the top... less obviously head-less.

Re your 24-60... sounds like a sensible range for a general purpose f2.8 lens. You can add a tele or ultra-wide around it if you get the chance and the photography passion's still burning. And it'll become wider if you ever get a fullframe: second hand 5Ds are a bargain now and things will only get better for the buyer.

Cheers, Tony

Thanks for the advice. I'll play around some more. Or maybe just get my husband to take some more shots where there won't be a blown out window!!

How about trying the same shot again but this time using your speedlite to balance the exposure?

Bouncing the flash and getting some fill-in flash will help your husband and yourself know that you can get a nice exposure without any PP