Not sure what I was going for, but here is the original and two retouches.

Let me know what you think.

I thought this was the critique area, opinion anyone?

Hi keiser,

Contrasty, desaturated and high radius sharpened as to cause halos. The end result is grunge-like.

Perhaps if you use the same technique on a photo that is more solemn placed in a location other than the beach it would come off better.

It's a very pretty picture of a happy little girl that now doesn't look very pretty. I would go the opposite direction with this photo and lighten it up using beachy colors.

Regards

I agree with Bill that this technique doesn't seem suited to the image. The girl has lovely soft blond hair, that following the filters looks dirty and greasy. Overall I like the original image a lot, and the filters have not improved it.

I agree about it not suiting this picture. Used it because I like the lighting. Have to see if I can find a more appropriate picture to try it on.

Thanks for the input.