DSLR Photography Forum

After his bath tonight my son Brandon was sitting wrapped in a towel. He was over tired after a long day and full of giggles, so I got the camera.
He was quite animated as I experimented bouncing the flash in different directions.



I got several shots similar to this one. I was only messing about but pleased with his expression on this one. After he finally went to bed I experimented with a few photoshop actions to change the bits I didn't like so much.

The towel was a bit frayed and needed a trim and a colour change. I fiddled with the levels then brightness and contrast. I smoothed and sharpened the face in a few spots and brightened the eyes. I liked the result but couldnt find a crop that I was happy with. Left with too much white wall background I decided to add in one of my beach sunset shots for a background.



Please bear in mind this was an arty experiment not an serious attempt at photorealism. While I like the result I know it looks over process and fake...

As always I can never close photoshop without checking how it looks in b&w or sepia...



Im biased towards sepia lately but I think it also took away some of the 'fakeness' of the colour version.
All comments /.critique always appreciated.
Shane

very cool !! i would have never thought that a bathroom shot could look like a beach !! great imagination and PP work .


..... Shawn

#2 is a super enhancement - beautiful work...

Thanks Toad and Drake.
I revised the colour edit to reduce the over saturation in the face.

Yes - I think that is even better - even though the saturation didn't bother me before because of the sunset,,,

I love the full blown colour one- it almost looks like an illustration. The 'fakeness' doesn't bother me a bit, because its well done.
Fantastic results from your experiment there Smarti.

G'day Shane,

well done with the pp..........I like it!!. I don't mind the over the top pp,I think it works well with Brandon's expression. Having said that the last one you posted would be my pick!

I hadn't seen your last version and I also love it... All of them have something to admire....

Amazing how you can transform a photo

I think the saturation would look best somewhere in between the highly saturated one and the last one you posted.

More light in the eyes. Accentuate the catchlights and dodge the colored parts. My 2 cents.

Otherwise nicely done.

Wedding Shooter Wrote:I think the saturation would look best somewhere in between the highly saturated one and the last one you posted.

+1

Thanks everyone - I agree with all of the suggestions! Its funny how you post something thinking that its finished and then edit it again in another twenty different ways. I will find a middle ground in the saturation before I print it. And the eyes definately need a bit more work.
Even after I print it I'll see something that I want to change...

Feel free to play with it and post your edit! I would love to see your interpretation.
Shane

#1 Is great, frayed towel and all.

#2 Looks like he's wearing lipstick and make-up
#3 Not for me the sepia.
#4 Better but I still prefer the first. I wonder if it is the colour of the towel.
The original pinkyred will impart a tone to his face, which the blue one won't do, unless you use a blue towel to begin with.
And it may be giving a false tone to his face.
Nice boy. I used to look like that..

What a great idea, Shane. I like the brightness of the 1st colour shot. It makes me think of the beach on a sunny day.