Mother and Daughter

[Xia_Ke]

My girlfriend has been wanting me to get some candid shots of her and her daughter. This shot is what I was looking for but, it didn't come out as I wanted. Anyone have any suggestions on how I could have brought out more contrast with the sky, while lightening them up some? Would using a flash have helped? Sorry if this is the wrong forum.

[trog100]

a cokin graduated filter is the real answer.. but useing a lower exposure for the sky and flash to light the subjects would also work but only with close up subjects..

the grad would enable the overall exposure to be turned up and still keep the sky from blowing.. its the only real way of handling such shots..

trog

[Xia_Ke]

Thank you Trog. The advice is much appreciated. I'll have to look into picking one of those up then

Aaron

[mjs1973]

A graduated ND filter would definetly work for an image like this, as will fill flash. If you don't have a filter, or don't want to use flash, photoshop will also work. Some selective lightening on the foreground, and a little darkening in the background will help you acheive what you want.

Hope you don't mind, I took the liberty to play with your photo to show you how this can be done. If you don't want me to post the image, let me know and I will delete it.

All I did was added a new Levels adjustment layer, and moved the black point to the right. This darkend the entire image. Then I used the layer mask, and brushed away the affect on the bottom of the image. This left the sky darker, and the foreground was left alone. Next I added a new curves adjustment layer, and used it to lighten the entire image, until I had the foreground elements the way I wanted them. Then I used the layer mask, and burshed away the affect on the top of the image. This revealed the darker sky that I created in the first step. Then entire process took me less than 2 minutes.

[Xia_Ke]

Hi Michael. Thank you for your advice. I was actually able to get the basic effect I was looking for through Photoshop (though admittedly yours came out better than mine). I just hate having to Photoshop stuff all the time. I'm trying to learn to become more reliant on the camera itself. I know my girlfriend doesn't care about that though...LOL So, for now, I will try to follow all the steps you mentioned above to give her the photo she wants. Thanks again

[trog100]

Photoshop will not put back blown detail.. so in that sense photoshop will not work..

u could take two different exposures and merge them.. u could clone in a completely fake sky..

but the cokin grad is the only real answer to such problems.. a lot easier as well.. he he

be old fashioned and take the picture properly in the first place..

trog

[Xia_Ke]

...be old fashioned and take the picture properly in the first place..

trog

I'm trying

In best Mr. Miyagi impression "Must practice Aaron-san!"

[livin4lax09]

well here's what I did. First, new adjustment layer/curves. then adjust it the brightness you want in the bottom of the image. then use the gradient tool on the curves layer. with black at top, white at bottom. this will bring the top of the image to the normal values while leaving the bottom at the values you tweaked it to, basically applying a graduated neutral density filter in PP. then i just used the burn/dodge at about 150 pix around 8%. it's a very nice image though!

[mjs1973]

be old fashioned and take the picture properly in the first place..

I couldn't agree more. But if you don't have the right tools for the job, there are other ways to acheive the results you're looking for.

[trog100]

well michael.. your way has improved a badly exposed picture.. but it hasnt fully achieved what should be the desired result.. so with that example the only way short of cloning in a fake sky is to take the picture correctly in the first place..

when sky detail isnt there photoshop cant put it back.. u cant manipulate detail that quite simply isnt there.. so photshop has failed..

many a nice picture is spoilt by blown sky.. the cokin grad system is the only way i know of preventing it.. there are other makes but cokin is the best known one..

trog

[molaselake]

Hi xia_ke, I think your photo is very sweet. I can just imagine how it would feel sitting in the snow with your mom after you've built a snowman, watching the sun set. I just get a complete feeling of contenment from it. As for the edits that have been posted, I think the second really nailed in on the head. My only other thing to offer would be to maybe crop that blue area on the left out, or change the color of it to match the other houses more.

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks for all the help and comments everyone This finally gave me the "excuse" I needed to order some more goodies, so I just bought a set of Cokin Filters. Also, I think I'll spend tonight brushing up on my Photoshop skills.

Thanks again everyone
Aaron