[Petographer]

I don't usually do not do too much processing in this manner so any feedback would be most helpful. I might also add that my sig is not on the clients copy.

[Rufus]

I hate to say this, but it isnt the processing which needs attention.....
IMHO, the issue is the male hand. Since it seems, (on my monitor), to end short of the frame edge, it seems.....well, sort of disconnected.
It's as though she is holding a fake hand!

Mind you, I did acuse NN of using foam rubber Bees, so maybe I have a fake-photo foible, quirk, qualm or quibble.

Actually, on that subject, I have a friend who farms Qualms and Quibbles for their fur. That's another story though.


(Pass the tranq's).

[Petographer]

Hmmm, I can see what you mean. The grooms cuff is black and I used a border fade effect fading the surrounding of the image to black. Maybe a tighter crop to the edge of the cuff?

My process crop,
select the rings,
invert and convert to b&w,
use Mitch's soft focus action (original)
use the boirder fade effect in filters unlimited.

[Irma]

I agree with Rufus... I think a crop would help... just matter of try... May I ask... Why B&W? What do you think a light sepia color with a soft focus? Trying to get a dreamy mood here...

[Petographer]

I agree with Rufus... I think a crop would help... just matter of try... May I ask... Why B&W? What do you think a light sepia color with a soft focus? Trying to get a dreamy mood here...

My wife suggested maybe a sepia tone as well. She said b &w made their hands look dead. I'll giv'er a try later. my eyes are bugging out of my skull from processing photos. :o

[Zig]

What an interesting thread.
To throw another cat in the pigeons at this point, I'm considering that a marriage is about 2 halves...so, I'm actually wondering if there are too many hands...
Am thinking, just the male and female hand needed? The cuff also looks a bit funereal and I've just had the terrible impression in my mind's eye of a ring being prised in this way from a corpse's finger..it looks a bit of a fumble!
I reckon a fresher feel also by making the whole mono image brighter, with maybe some yellow or orange filtration to whiten the hand??
I see what you guys mean about wanting to get away from pallidity: would some diffusion/glow(sorta like film halation) on a paler hand also pick up the sense of Irma's suggestion too?
What I'm really thinking, is something along the lines of Michelangelo's(?) fingers of God and man touching: a reaching/movement, or the man-woman equivalent. The mono feel I'm "seeing" is something like the tone Irma has in her bridge shot: plush, clean, and managing to convey "colour" by just shades of black and white.
Am fascinated by this image; hope you keep us posted on its twists and turns: am also equally fascinated by the plethora of different responses from the rest of the gang here.

[shuttertalk]

Hm... interesting now that people have mentioned the "ghost hand"....

While you're at it, you probably should blacken out the white bit at the top in between the two hands... not quite sure what it is and just adds to the confusion..

[Petographer]

Great ideas and feedback on this image. There is definately room for much improvement. This was a quike 10 minute edit. Something that just sprang to mind. I'll ry a diffused glow and see what I get.

[Rufus]

I feel a bit guilty. This picture has been ripped to shreds, when, by the standards of "Mr Average Viewer", it's actually brilliant.

Aren't perspective and familiarity strange things....... :/

[Petographer]

I feel a bit guilty. This picture has been ripped to shreds, when, by the standards of "Mr Average Viewer", it's actually brilliant.

Aren't perspective and familiarity strange things....... :/

Not a biggy Rufus. I posted here for a reason. Thanks.