[smarti77]

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

[Banded Drake]

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


..... Shawn

[Toad]

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

[smarti77]

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

[Toad]

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

[Schellamo]

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.

[Russt]

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!

[Irma]

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

[Wedding Shooter]

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.

[slejhamer]

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

Otherwise nicely done.

[slejhamer]

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

+1

[smarti77]

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

[NT73]

#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..

[ABree]

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.