Saturday, October 22, 2011

A Good Save! + a Before and After...and another after!

I really love this shot of my son at the pumpkin patch. However, it's REALLY underexposed, but I really really wanted to save it! He has an olive-y/tan skin tone and when his skin gets underexposed he tends to get quite orange-y in the shadows (and orange or yellow in photos in general), and makes for a LOT of work for mama in post-processing. Good thing I love Photoshop!

But the thing is...in my first "AFTER" of Ben, I didn't like the end result. I've been thinking about it since I posted it. Like, nonstop. It's really been bugging me. So, I decided to take another look and tweak it some more in ACR. I'm really really happy with the result I have this time. *sigh* haha!!

Here's the really underexposed BEFORE:

20111019_cheesin_SOOC


Here's the AFTER that I processed the other day and posted in my last blog post (notice the yellowness and dark orange tones in the creases in his face? I sure did!!):

20111019_bencheesin_blog


And here's AFTER the AFTER:

20111019_cheesin_redone_blog1

It is by no means perfect, but it's much more pleasing to me than the last one. I do realize that with his skin tone, he will always have an orange-y hue in his creases. But I love him to bits, so that's okay :)

I do all of my pre-editing (fixing WB, exposure, adding warmth, etc...) in ACR before bringing it into Photoshop. This time, I used all MCP actions to brighten a bit more and used her "One-Click Color" to enhance it. I love this action. It always provides the perfect amount of "pop" to the photos and they're all so tweakable. Love them!

I think this photo is now frame worthy!
Posted by Carolyn Brandt at

5 comments:

  1. JaimiOctober 22, 2011 at 11:47 AM

    I just love MCP. I took Jodi's curves class last month and have re-edited several of my favorite pictures. I thought I was the only crazy one who thinks about edits and then redoes them to perfection.

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  2. UnknownOctober 22, 2011 at 2:13 PM

    I agree. Definitely frame worthy. Thanks for sharing. I might have to try those MCP actions.

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  3. AnonymousOctober 23, 2011 at 9:38 AM

    Love it!!! He has a great cheesy grin!! :) nice job framing him the pumpkins, too!

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  4. AnonymousOctober 24, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    Oh those cheeks...so adorable!

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  5. Angelia Sims October 24, 2011 at 4:30 PM

    He is just sooo cute and that expression! AWH!
    I love what you've done with the edits. I use MCP actions too. They are life-savers AND I always re-think later about what other actions I could do. This photoshop stuff is bad for my OCD. HA.

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