Kim Howells

No, this is without my adjustments. Thanks for that, I will carry on using those methods.

Hi Damo. I have a few images similar to this, where I want the baby's balls to look more like the colour/brightness of the adjacent skin so as not to be so obvious. I have managed to get close with levels and playing with selective colour, but I figure this is a good question for the expert if you can help, please.

I struggled with this for years, and I *like* spending time on photos I like. But when you have large volumes, like Damien said, it's simply not feasible. So when shooting a wedding, the vast majority of mine only get a raw edit, but anything that is likely to end up on a wall gets a spruce up in PS. For portraits, I spend more time on them, but I do try to stick to the basics of raw and levels where I can, and more recently skin after having done the Skin Class. I guess on average it would be around 5 mins per photo, if there is nothing tricky like extending the floor or doing a head swap. But sometimes I like to play and it's a lot longer - but that's for personal satisfaction, not that of the client. I generally do all the raws first, then the PS edits.

Can you please post in the sharpening class with your sharpening settings, print size including res, and a 100% crop of what you sent to print?

Aha, thank you! Much better than what the / key shows me lol!

Hi Damo. It's really weird, but on that second PSD, the photo filter layer and the second hue/sat layer don't do anything when I opened them (CS5). ie nothing if I toggle them on and off, and no change if I change the sliders either. Any idea why?

OK, the lighting setup looks pretty simple. One strobe camera left, the other on lower power camera right, both higher than the subjects (with softboxes or umbrellas). For the ones where the kids are looking into the Santa sack, there appears to be a light in the sack, as you can see it is "uplighting" them (see the light underneath their noses, instead of on top).

Ah sorry, I missed the link Damo posted. Wow, a lot of editing has happened with those images, but I am guessing you have already talked to Damo about that. There looks to be a couple of different lighting scenarios here, will be back shortly after having a proper look.

What sort of look are you wanting Nunubaby? Do you have any examples?

Brian has given you heaps. I have a similar issue in my studio. Moving them further from the wall will help a LOT. Also what is outside your window? I find that I get colour inside based on what is outside mine. If the sun is out, I get a colour cast from the grass in the paddock outside. And if there is a brightly coloured car parked beside the paddock, that bounces colour inside too. Plus any colour inside the studio too, such as the clients clothing (I make sure I wear neutral colours).

Thanks heaps Damo.

Is this passable?

Awesome thank you, will give it a go. I tried handyman on its own, but it wasn't that great.

Hi Damo. Could I please have some of your magic to fix the wet bits on her top? Cheers Kim (100% crop)

I agree with Christina and Brian, it's just a depth of field issue, relating to aperture, and distance from your subject.

Awesome, thanks Damo, you're a wizard.

Sorry Damo, I have been awol. Here is the sky. Looking at it, it's really boring, but still useful to learn.

Hi Damo. This image has plenty of detail in the sky that I can bring out. Is there an easy way to mask it in around the trees? I have tried various blend modes to no avail, but I am still hoping there is a way that would be easier than having patience and pixel peeping. Image is SOOR.

How did you get on, Nancy? Are you exporting from LR as sRGB?

How did you get on, Lindsay?

How did you get on Kell, can we see a 100% crop?

How did you get on Nikki, do you have a raw edit to show us?

How did you get on, Stacey?

Perhaps instead you could use the bottom photo of the baby, rotate the baby, and add in the material that you have in the top shot (and change the wrap in the bottom one to white), so you still have two different looking shots?

I'd love to see a bit more room around them, instead of it being cropped in so tightly to the sides. I would also blend in that bit of backdrop where it changes from dark to light towards the left.