Can these photos be saved?

[325Ti]

I'm sure any body with young kids will know the struggle of trying to get nice photos of them together

Today I finally managed that only to realise afterwards that I had some of the settings wrong

Tried to get them to sit again but no joy

I've tried the only editing software I have - photoshop light on ipad but couldn't get them looking good

Any help or advice very welcome

[325Ti]

[nellyleelephant]

Unfortunately, the focus looks off on the faces. Not much you can do about that.

[tenohfive]

I've lightened and sharpened the living daylights out of it but as Nelly says the focus is off. Best I could manage:





Maybe some more extreme sharpening with some deliberate grain and a B&W conversion may work, but a bit beyond me.

[325Ti]

Thanks for that - confirms what I thought.

Would the lighter one be any better to sharpen and black and white as discussed? I tried to sharpen it in my app but made zero difference.

[tenohfive]

I really don't know if it would make any difference - lightening the image itself is actually the easiest part (just upping exposure in Lightroom.) The focus issue - much more noticeable on the eldest - is likely to be the most difficult thing to overcome. I've already ramped sharpness and clarity up, added radial filters for sharpness to the eyes and face of the eldest and it's still a bit soft.

I'll have another go in the morning, see if there's anything else I can do. I'm at the lower end of ability amongst the PH'ers though so I'm not sure how well it'll come out. Best case scenario is for social media it could be passable. You're never going to hang it on your wall though.

Edited by tenohfive on Sunday 10th May 21:44

[Simpo Two]

Looks like the camera has focused in the middle - ie between them. I don't think you'll get it any better.

Something to remember for next time

[325Ti]

Simpo Two said:

Looks like the camera has focused in the middle - ie between them. I don't think you'll get it any better.

Something to remember for next time

Yeah it's my own fault, had it set for just shooting the younger child by herself and forgot to change the settings when adding the second child.

[Ed_P]

And when shooting against a white background, the camera's metering system will render the scene as grey. Remember to add some positive exposure compensation; at least one stop for a shot like that. Also, it's generally best (if you have time), to select a focus point that's on the eyes of the closest subject. If you're using a wide aperture, "focus and recompose" using the central focus point, can sometimes give disappointing results.