Help with my effort of before and after

[cobra]

First of all I would like to say sorry for high jacking hamdisafety’s thread http://www.photoshopgurus.com/forum/before-after-showroom/41556-my-before-after-series-8-a.html I was not aware I was doing it at the time so big sorry about that hamdisafety M8.

I was just trying to show that I also had a old scanned worn picture of my In-laws that need a lot of work on (for me that is lol) in repairing and also colouring as they didn’t have any colour pictures of their wedding or of the inside of their church so this was my effort as good as I could get it, they both look they are floating a bit not standing on the floor and need more work getting them to blend but other than that I liked what I did considering I have never done this much work on a photo before that is lol.

Here is my effort as far as I have got it so far if anyone would like to improve it for me I have added the BG and the original cut out psd if you need the cut out with all my colour layers still on it I will up it as well?
Thanks In advance
Bryan

 

[Paul Boyo white]

I really like this .
If I was to add a critique I would say add some shadow at the feet where you see shadow coming from all other objects theres none at feet

 

[iDad]

I'm not very good with picking apart others work but I think the vail area on the bride would have a semi transparent look to it or add gold tone photofilter to that area, maybe a bit of it to both parties also it will give the overall surrounding gold hue effect
gold glow tint like bg

 

[iDad]

View attachment 28681I gave it a few minutes what I did was duplicate layer put the top layer in overlay mode I added photo filter using color from rug on the floor keeping transparency then I blurred out the shoes area, that area was a dead give away Sometimes a quick hiding technique helps rater than getting into shading techniques......

 

[Bosch232]

I think the main thing you'll struggle with is the direction of lighting. In the BG the light source is from behind and left, but your subjects' light source is (was) from mostly overhead and to the right (based upon the b&w image you posted). I think iDad did a good job of hiding one of those light sources with the vignette.

But I've been in enough Catholic churches in my life to tell you that you have the subjects scaled up too large. Reign them in about 5% and see what you think. Although, looking at the original b&w, it appears the groom is/was fairly tall when compared to the door behind him. Maybe I'm wrong about the scale. But experiment with that some. It caught my eye.

 

[ibclare]

I like iDad's idea of adding a golden glow. The whole picture needs warming up. I would also increase the depth of color in the couple; they look a bit washed out. But the colorizing job you did is nice.

In fact, I think the entire image is a bit washed out. Bringing up the color vibrance and contrast would improve the picture a lot. If you don't add a golden glow, consider a layer adjustment>photo filter to warm up the couple.

A levels or curves adjustment will help the whole image by adding vibrance, contrast, and depth. Right now you have too little range between shadows and highlights. Try that before adjusting with a vibrance layer.

I also agree with Bosch. Except I think you need to go more than 5%. They are very close to the altar. If they were further in front of it, they could appear that tall in comparison. The altar should be about waist level or a bit lower maybe. Use the woman for your scale on that I would suggest.

As for shadows on the couple, they aren't too far off. It wouldn't bother me if you didn't make much alteration there. Except for beneath their feet. They are floating. Look at the B&W and you will see that they are anchored to the ground. You'll need to add shadows from their bodies that follow the direction of the shadows in the cathedral/church, but especially there need to be shadows under their feet. Those shadows should be really sharp and black around the bottom edges, then slowly soften and lighten. You may need to clean up his shoe as it appears to have a white halo, but that will take relatively little time to do.

To make the shadow under their feet, make a layer beneath them and paint on that. It is very easy to start the paintbrush underneath their forms where the image will hide the brush stroke and it can peek out a bit at a time. Do not do the painting directly on their layer or you will mess it up.

Nice job though. I think you have the color balancing pretty close, but the couple need to be warmed up and saturated a bit. Keep up the good work. I remember when you first posted this a while back. :mrgreen: