coloration, critique, opinions, improvement?

[hawkaye]

Hello everyone! I'm new here, been lurking for about 2 weeks, and decided to get my feet wet. I've seen some really great work on here, some very inspiring! So I thought I'd hang a couple of mine out and see what everyone thought. I'm hoping to start doing this as a income producing business :-) Which I suppose quite a few of us are, from what I've read. Looking forward to becoming an active member of the group!

Donald

[Doug Nelson]

So, where are they?

[sjm]

maybe they are in the same place where my pictures go when I try to upload them.

still can't figure out the problem, but haven't done much lately to upload anyway. hope to get back to 'normal'(whatever *THAT* might be) soon.

[Ed_L]

Hey Donald, welcome to the crowd! I don't see anything I can criticize! Glad to have you aboard.

Ed

[hawkaye]

Ed_L Thanks for the warm welcome.

SJM, when you find yours, let me know, because I think mine ARE with them. Lost in uploading......

Donald

[DJ Dubovsky]

Donald
Explain what you're doing to upload and maybe we can figure out what's going on. If the files are too big you will get a notice that they are too large but I've never heard of them just getting lost. Do you go to the "Attach file" below your message and hit browse to get your file? If so what happens then and what type file format are you trying to send? Doug can probably help you better than I or anyone else can.
DJ

[hawkaye]

DJ

I follow the directions, browse the file, attach, post reply..... In *.jpg format..... So got me as to what is happening...

Donald

[DJ Dubovsky]

Donald,
When all fails, e-mail it to Doug at dnelson@retouchpro.com and tell him you had trouble uploading it under the crtiques/opinions forum. He may be able to help you figure out what's going on but if nothing else, he can atleast upload the file for you. Wish I could be better help but you seem to be doing everything right. Lord only knows what's going on.
DJ

[thomasgeorge]

Try this , if you are using PS: with picture open, select "save for web" under file menu, set quality at 30, size 800 pixel,. then hit OK and file it somewhere. Use this photo for attachment. This is the only way I have had consistant success attaching photos to posts. Just a thought....Tom

[Doug Nelson]

Keep it under 100k, make sure its JPG format and ends with .jpg, attach it, then be patient. There's no little thermometer bar to give you upload status. It just sits there and stares at you until its complete.

Some folks claim it won't take long filenames, but I haven't had that problem (but wouldn't hurt to try a brief name)

[hawkaye]

Ok, here we go again. Under 100K jpg file. Lets see if it works this time. Thanks for all the input and ideas on getting this posted. If all else fails, I'll either post the URL or email it to Doug.

[thomasgeorge]

Looks pretty good to me. Very natural and no obvious matte hanging out. Very good work. Perhaps increase the saturation a little but I'm no expert. Tom

[DJ Dubovsky]

Donald,
I knew we'd get you up and running. Actually you did it yourself. The photo looks great. She seems to fit right into the scene. I wouldn't worry about the coloring but I am not photographer either. I think you did a great job.
DJ

[hawkaye]

Tom, DJ: Thanks for the comments. Not 100% happy with it, but makes a nice 4X6 print at 300 dpi..... Going to try out one of the challanges on here :-)

Donald

[Ed_L]

Donald,

Looks great to me. Appears that you're going to be another addition to our growing population of accomplished artists.

Ed

[jeaniesa]

Hi Donald,

I'm pretty new here myself and still have lots to learn. I think you did a good job on this one - you combined the two images seamlessly. I see what you mean about the color shift and if it were me, I'd probably try to correct it. (But I'm a bit of a perfectionist. ) Looks like too much red or magenta, but I'm not sure.

One other thing that looks a little "off" to me is that Kathy looks a washed out when compared to the building behind her. If you still have the layers to work on, I'd make her layer active and use levels to increase the contrast. (I'm assuming you know that technique. Let us know if you don't.) That should help make the colors look more saturated as well.

Jeanie

[hawkaye]

Jeanie,

Thanks for the comments. I kind of second most of what you said pertaining to the image. The original image is a wee bit better... The posted one last some information in decreasing its size/resolution. But you are correct in the magenta/red cast. I'm probably going to rescan the negatives and redo the final image.
I also lost the *.psd files when I reformatted not long ago. My archiveal CD collection is starting to pile up too much, and getting harder and harder to find what I want, even though I KNOW I have it somewhere. Kind of like a looney squirle who knows he's burried a winter stash of nuts somewhere, but just can't quite recall where he buried them all at.... I know, post-it notes

Cheers!
Donald