I think it's just about a tossup. I might prefer the original a tiny bit. However, that's because the lightened one loses contrast in the process. Go back and try it again. This time use the shadows/highlights tool. Make sure it's in advanced mode, so you'll have the midtone contrast control as well. Reduce the shadows by about 10% or so, Set the threshold so it's affecting only the shadows you wish to control, then crank up the midtone contrast until the values in the lightened face are again appropriate. See if that isn't a marked improvement over both versions.
Paul
On Mar 17, 2005, at 10:34 PM, Shel Belinkoff wrote:
Hi Don,
Dodging and burning aren't manipulation as I see it ;-))
Actually, there are many ways to lighten small or specific areas, that's
not the problem. I just lightened the face a bit, but then the tonality of
the photo was thrown off and the pic didn't look quite natural. Of course,
I just did a little Q&D adjustment, and it's likely that spending more time
on the face could bring a better result.
My own philosphy of image tonality comes from working with B&W, where one
works with light and shadows differently. Personally, I like deep shadows
and darker prints (one of my teachers was a student of WES, and WES often
printed dark), but what I'm used to doing in B&W doesn't always translate
into color, so new skills are needed here. However, I generally don't like
working in color as color often gets in the way of the image and the story.
Here's the Q&D lightening of the face. Tell me if you don't thing the
balance of the image is ruined by the adjustment. You might want to switch
between them to better see the dif.
http://home.earthlink.net/~my-pics/snoozer-lite.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~my-pics/snoozer.html
Shel
[Original Message] From: Don Sanderson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Date: 3/17/2005 6:18:51 PM Subject: RE: PAW PESO - Snoozer
I was assuming an overall lightening of the pic. You wouldn't resort to *dodging* would you? That would be "manipulation"! ;-) (Poking fun at the 'purists'.)
Actually I don't know if it would look right or not just lightening the shadows. I'm not good enough at PS to make it look natural. Looks like one of those cut n' paste things when I'm done with it.
