I need some of you color gurus to criticize this picture. I am posting the after picture first and if I can I'll post the before.

One disclaimer, the suit is much darker on the jpeg. When printed you can see the texture.

Are the reds too saturated? I think I have 30 different skin tones. Anyway, please feel free to criticize. Let me know the areas you think take away from the picture.

Thanks,

Sharon

after pic

before pic

Nice work Sharon!

3 comments (from a non-guru):
Is there enough definition in the original scan to boost the saturation in the girls dress, the middle boy's jacket and the right boys shirt? They look a bit washed out.

The girl's skin tones look a little bit too red to me.

It may add to the picture if you could change the background into a sky rather than the off-white you currently have. It was the first thing that struck me as a little odd.

I like all those strategies. I'll give them a try.

I agree with BigAl, you need a sky in the background.
It looks like you've lost the detail in the shadows, as the man's jacket, the boy's pants, and the other boy's shorts appear as black areas. And for some reason, it looks like the girl has been pasted in....I think it has to do with the dark shadows around her legs.
I like the skin color, and think it looks pretty good, but the girl's
socks and purse are majenta now (unless you intenede that).

The first thing that struck me was the loss of detail in the shadows. But perhaps as you say this is due to the JPG format. You're obviously aware of it anyway, which is the main thing!

I'm with Vikki re the girl looking pasted on. And her suggested reason why this might be. The shadow on the ground behind the girl is not entirely convincing and perhaps this is adding to the floating effect.

The faces are great - you've got the skintone just right!

I understand your concern about the reds, but I think they're fine - a minor reduction in the saturation of the reds and greens wouldn't hurt, but I don't think it's absolutely necessary.

One very minor point: I did notice that remnants of what was the window behind the bougainvillea are still evident - especially that strong diagonal form at upper right, and just behind the man's right shoulder. It just looks a little ambiguous, that's all. But I should think that wouldn't be a problem if you changed the background to a sky.

Hope that helps!

You've all helped tremendously. I think I'll start over with those ideas in mind.

Thanks a lot,

Sharon

When do you sleep?

For Sam: are they bougainvilleas or rambling roses ;)

Hmmm, dunno. Just had another look. You may be right.

Big Al, I don't sleep lately. Bit of a problem.

I'm pretty sure they are roses.

Sharon,

I just now noticed...where did the pictures go?

glad you said that Doug, I thought it was just me who couldn't see the pics. I thought it was something like the Emperors New Clothes or something. :)

I think the case of the disappearing picture has happened on another thread or two. I can't remember which thread, but I opened one not too long ago, and the picture was not there. Like Sandra, I thought it was my problem.

Ed

Were they images uploaded on this site or on another site with a link? That could explain it. I think that's why Doug would rather images be uploaded directly rather than using places like Webshots etc. Because in the future they may not exist but the link to it on this forum will.
DJ

As I remember it (but that doesn't mean a whole lot :) ), the one I'm talking about was uploaded to this site.

Ed