Portrait: Dessa

I took this picture when I was doing portraits for my family. This one is of my niece, taken about a year and a half ago. I used available light only and took it using my D50. This set of portraits was the first that I did on my own and with my D50.

Cute kid, nice pose, and very over-sharpened to my eyes and on my screen. Look at the edges of her form. She almost looks like she's been cut out and pasted into the scene, no?

I agree. It is over sharpened. I don't know how that happened. It didn't look like that when I was editing it. I'll have to go back check the file to see why it looks like that and then fix it.

Hi Jessica,

Yes, a cute child! Good attitude and a nice moment captured.

Not sure about losing the legs, but that's fine really.

I agree on the over-sharpening.

Here's my rule:

Sharpening, changes in hue, saturation, curves and so forth, how to be subtle

1. Make the correction on a separate layer until it is perfect.
   
   
2. If you can, go on to something else for a while.
   
   
3. Now change the layer to the smallest percentage that you can without discarding benefit from the great change you made in that layer. Well you can add a little more, but you get the idea. The eye can always add the rest.
   
   
4. Trust the brain.

We are hunters, socially sophisticated, deceivers and detectives, charmers and cheats, able to read messages. We don't need to hear voice when a stranger smiles from across the room. Same with pictures!

Asher

I think the expression you captured works very well.

My main issue is the blown out highlights in the sky, particularly in the area next to her head. These highlights draw attention away from Dessa. I'd be inclined to replace the blown out sky with some blue.

Mike

www.mikespinak.com