Dunno why, but they like this shot best!

[Steve S]

And, they want wallet sized pics of it too! But it's square! :shock: How am I gonna do that? This is my neice on top and her best friend on the bottom. This backdrop lighting was an experiment that didn't quite work out.

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[Flew]

Hey Steve, I like it too!!

It's a cool and unique shot that let's them be 'somebody' (at least somebody different). :lol:

I like the lighting too, at least in this context.

Regards,

Frank

 

[Backdoctor]

And, they want wallet sized pics of it too! But it's square! :shock: How am I gonna do that? This is my neice on top and her best friend on the bottom. This backdrop lighting was an experiment that didn't quite work out.

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Steve, what if you printed that out on a 4x6 and then just cut the blank area off. It is an off format, it would be 4x4. Or, make the longest edge the size of a wallet photo and print on the4x6 paper so as to minimize waste?

 

[DavidM]

Steve -

Can't read their minds from here, but I bet they like it because it shows their personalities so well. Although the color of the background light doesn't do much for me, overall I think the effect works well -- I really like how the background draws the eye to the faces. The expressions and physicality of the photo speak volumes about the personalities of these two girls, and you get a sense that you know something about them just from looking at the picture. That's why I like it, but they may have totally different reasons...

The composition doesn't lend itself to a wallet-sized aspect ratio, so perhaps some kind of frame could be applied?? Not a lot you can do to change the aspect ratio unless you start cropping parts out, and I think that would change the character of the photo too much.

 

[Uncle Frank]

Cute shot, Steve. Traditional wallet size is 2.5X3.5", and you've cropped this image to 2.5X2.72". Why not go back to the original, and see if there's a better crop? Or, you could just leave space at the top or bottom... or use it for their signatures.

As far as the background is concerned, it's easy enough to adjust it in photoshop without affecting the girls, using a hue/saturation adjustment layer. Here's an example.

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[Steve S]

Thanks Frank, and everyone,

The problem with going back to the original is that the rest of the frame left & right is off the seamless, plus I'm about at full from vertically, and since the backdrop color is so goofy and gradient, I don't think I've got the skills to pull off addding canvas and making it look the same. I did a test print of them as is with "Fit to Frame" selected in Qimage. While it did give me the 2.5x3.5's, their image within it is pretty small.
I am almost hesitant to ask, Frank, but what is this Hue/Saturation layer? I like your results!

 

[Retief]

Steve, one other thing you might try is to just put a border left and right to fill the space. Perhaps some other gradient or spacy looking filler.

 

[greyflash]

And, they want wallet sized pics of it too! But it's square! :shock: How am I gonna do that? This is my neice on top and her best friend on the bottom. This backdrop lighting was an experiment that didn't quite work out.

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Very cute shot Steve, no wonder they like it. Well done and I like the background.

Gordon

 

[Uncle Frank]

Re: Thanks Frank, and everyone,

what is this Hue/Saturation layer? I like your results!

There are a number of image adjustment tools, Steve... hue/saturation, levels, curves, color balance, etc. You can find them
under image-adjustments. They're very effective, but they are all global adjustment... they change the contrast or color of
everything in the frame you're working on. If I had used the hue/saturation tool on the girl's picture, it would have
come out like this:

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That's the problem with a global adjustment. It changes parts of the picture that you'd rather be left alone. But an adjustment
layer allows you to apply the adjustments selectively, which in this case was just to the background.

View attachment 4808

Here's a little tutorial I
found for you.

http://www.bairarteditions.com/pages/tutorials/photoshop/layadjust.html

 

[Gale]

Re: Thanks Frank, and everyone,

Steve

Add some room to the right side of pic. Looks like heads up against a wall.. That might fit the crop better for the wallet.

Really great shot and colors.

Cheers
Gale

 

[Steve S]

Thanks Frank & Gale. And Frank,

thanks for that tutorial page on layer masks. I read through it once last night, but it hasn't completely sunk in yet. I need to actually try it out, then maybe I'll get the hang of it.