Lou McLove
October 2026 - Just Making a Little Touchup
Original
About the Image(s)
This was taken at a fund raising event for a local non-profit called Toledo Grows. Their mission is to help people to establish community gardens and they are quite successful. I shot this with a Canon R6 II, Canon EF 24-105 f4 lens at 24mm, ISO 102400. I de-noised the image using Lightroom's denoise function. I thought about fooling around with the background but decided against it.
8 comments posted
Lou -
You captured a lovely human moment here. The painter's concentration and the girl's quiet trust give the image warmth and an intimate story. You also handled the difficult low light well; both subjects are sharp, with good detail in their expressions.
I wondered whether a slightly different angle might have separated them more clearly from the busy background. The title, "The Touch Up," tells me what's happening between them, but I was curious about the larger occasion. If you had been able to include a visual clue to the fundraising event, it might have added another layer to the story. Even without that context, the connection between these two people makes this an engaging photograph.
Posted: 10/03/2026 21:13:48
You captured a lovely human moment here. The painter's concentration and the girl's quiet trust give the image warmth and an intimate story. You also handled the difficult low light well; both subjects are sharp, with good detail in their expressions.
I wondered whether a slightly different angle might have separated them more clearly from the busy background. The title, "The Touch Up," tells me what's happening between them, but I was curious about the larger occasion. If you had been able to include a visual clue to the fundraising event, it might have added another layer to the story. Even without that context, the connection between these two people makes this an engaging photograph.
Posted: 10/03/2026 21:13:48
Hello Butch, thanks for the comments, I agree with you. I should have either included more of the area or just eliminated the background. Posted: 10/06/2026 21:52:40
Love the story telling of your image. You captured the the artist really concentrating on her work. Get the impression she is a perfectionist! Image is sharp, has a great story. I found the area behind the young lady being painted, too bright. I hope you don't mind, I cropped the right side of the image and toned down the brightness to focus more on the two young ladies. Posted: 10/04/2026 00:13:36
Thanks for the comments Kathy. I like the crop, it definitely improves the image. Posted: 10/06/2026 21:53:45
This is a lovely story. I especially love the expression on the artist's face. I like Kathy's suggestion about cropping out the white on the right, but I also like seeing some of the background which gives me information about the event. I imagine you had to deal with challenging light and activity to work around. The photo is sharp and really pleasing. Posted: 10/04/2026 18:53:54
Thanks for the comments Maryellen. It was a very crowded and busy area, I would like to have shown more background but I don't think it would have improved the image. Posted: 10/06/2026 21:55:47
Hi Lou,
I like that you captured this image at just the right moment. I wondered how it would look in B&W, and I think it works well that way too.
There are a few distractions in the background that could be removed, depending on how you plan to use the image. Another option would be to simply blur the background a bit.
Masking in LR, ACR, and PS has improved so much that it makes this kind of editing much faster. I converted the image to B&W in Lightroom Classic and made a few adjustments to remove some distractions and add a little more depth. I also masked her eyes to try to reduce some of the reflection. Posted: 10/06/2026 16:14:56
I like that you captured this image at just the right moment. I wondered how it would look in B&W, and I think it works well that way too.
There are a few distractions in the background that could be removed, depending on how you plan to use the image. Another option would be to simply blur the background a bit.
Masking in LR, ACR, and PS has improved so much that it makes this kind of editing much faster. I converted the image to B&W in Lightroom Classic and made a few adjustments to remove some distractions and add a little more depth. I also masked her eyes to try to reduce some of the reflection. Posted: 10/06/2026 16:14:56
Hi Bob, thanks for the comments. I love the image in B&W, I think it's stronger and more focused. I also like how you removed the person directly behind the girl, that's a big improvement. Blurring the background is a good idea. Posted: 10/06/2026 21:57:48