French Kissed Postcards - "Kissed Again Challenge"

The very awesome blog French Kissed Postcards is having a "Kissed Again" challenge for digital creators to submit their interpretation of an image from French Kissed Postcards (either the blog or a purchase from the Etsy site).  I happened to like the image Trishia posted today of an Edwardian Beach family so I chose it for my entry.  Below is the original that I pulled from her blog:



Cynthia and Co. Kissed Again from French Kissed Postcards



The original is a great photograph with a sea of interesting faces but I felt it was too monochromatic for your eye to "set" on particular subjects.  The first adjustment I made was to add a touch of color with a sky overlay.  Below is the image:



Cynthia and Co. Kissed Again from French Kissed Postcards Image 2



The other step I took for this step was to crop out the bottom margin so that the girls along edge were laying evenly across the bottom.  By doing so the photograph doesn't have as much "movement" but I like it better because the girls are more "grounded".



Cynthia and Co. Kissed Again from French Kissed Postcards Image 3



I did a couple things next.  I enhanced the girls along the bottom for a focal point.  I duplicated the image and then erased everyone but the girls.  They now have more prominence and a place for your eyes to settle.  Another step was to crop the photograph down to remove some of the subjects.  I hated to remove some of the folks but there were too many faces to look at...yikes...sorry!



Cynthia and Co. Kissed Again from French Kissed Postcards Image 4



Step 4 was to add a snapshot border for more interest.  It also serves to contain everything so your eye doesn't wander off the photograph.



Cross Process Image 5



In image five ( 5 ) I added Cross Process and then de-saturated a tad bit.  The sky is still somewhat visible but not as prominent.



Sepia Image 6



For image six ( 6 ) I added a sepia look and then de-saturated.  It turned more pinkie than sepia and I kind of like this look.



Old Photo Image 7



My last adjustment shown above was to use the "Old Photo" look.  The sky is gone but the ladies along the bottom still take center stage and continue to be the focal point of the picture.  So that is my spin on this fun little photograph of beach people from the early 1900s.  The girls along the bottom will thank me - the others (not so prominent along the edges) are gone for now but I know someone else will find a way to leave them in their interpretation of this great old photo.

In closing I want to thank Trishia for posting this photograph...and for putting the challenge "out there"!!  Head over to French Kissed Postcards - its a fun place to visit!

http://frenchkissedpostcards.blogspot.com/