Focused...

... on a conversation with a piece of Lego.

[finished version on my [url=http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/1327897]Kinda Horrigans[/url] journal]

Really really poor image today - hardly took any photos and this was a quick snap when I got home.

Editing details as follows: firstly, adjusting the RAW file. This was an underexposed shot for a variety of reasons, not least that I didn't want to bump up the ISO too high and the light was poor. So, I upped the exposure and decreased the blacks slightly then nudged up the clarity by about +5. Within Photoshop, I sharpened the eyes by using a high pass filter and a 50% grey layer set to overlay blend mode. Using layer masks and a white brush you can the paint in the lightening / sharpening as you want. The shot still wasn't working in colour, so I decided to make it a black and white. Used Silver Efex pro to convert it. Then flattened the layers. Sharpened the whole thing once more. Then saved.

If I were to do this shot over, I'd have been further back, it would have been taken in better light and there would have been more space to the left... giving him more space to look into and allowed you to focus on the little Lego man he's looking at. But, it was a snatched candid portrait and one of the very very few shots I took today!

Tip of the Day:
If you want to know more about the weirdly named 'high pass filter' then there are 3 tutorials available on this site and will work in most versions of Photoshop / GIMP.