Help on final touches?

I wanted to do a little gift for the lady I board Reno with and her family. They may have to end their lease for these two ponies soon because the little girl is outgrowing them. My brother and I took some photos the last time we visited my boy and I threw something together.

So, I've done it again...



The file is still able to be edited to my heart's content. I know different screens have different display settings, so I don't know what others might see. My phone shows things more vibrantly than my laptop. Does the contrast need to be upped or lowered? Should the color gradient overlay have more or less opacity, or just not be there at all?

In the end, this is eventually going to be a large, framed print.

To me the red color cast (especially near the left side, and somewhat in the lower right) is rather distracting and could be toned down or removed. There's some blueish banding I'm seeing on the right too, so I'd recommending fixing that up too cause it might show in the end print.

As for the contrast, I'd go a little heavier on the blacks/dark values as the image looks a tad 'blown out' to me (as if faded a little) - you could go a little brighter on the whites/highlights too just so you make sure the end print looks good and dynamic.

The right horse also looks a little bit blurrier to me than the left one, so perhaps try adding some sharpening, or if that doesn't work try adding a bit of blur to the left one so they match well.

I'm on a retina screen if that helps at all; I think the display should be pretty true to the image.

I noticed the weird banding too when I uploaded it. It's not there in the program or saved image on my desktop. Only after I uploaded to the image host. Huh.

Is this one any better?



Perhaps a little too saturated? Or maybe that's just me being picky. I reduced the gradient opacity to like 30% so it's BARELY there. Blurred out the black a little bit, did a little sharpening on the chestnut. Fiddled with levels.

Ech, need to mess with the soft shadows...

Last edited on 2017-03-14 at 11:03:27 by vōs♚

I can't see the ears and forelock of the left horse very well against the black backround, or is that intentional?

May have to fiddle with levels and contrast more. Black pony and black background XD

Yeah, I agree it's little too saturated now. Maybe lighten the black just a little bit now, it looks a tad too dark. Somewhere in between this darkness and the original should be good.

Hmmmm...

I think that's looking good - something about the transition with the shadows around the horses' shoulders seems a little severe though. Perhaps feather it more? Or experiment with bringing in a little of that overlay again?

I like the current version a lot, but I'm no real artist, so I can't really help much...

I'll fidget with that then. So cloooooosssseeee!

Just wanted to pop in and say it looks stunning Vos, I'm sure they will love it :D

I love it it is soo stunning