Wonder of First Touch.....

[Jeni Williams]

Please give me your opinions; This is the first time I've tried something like this and by using the stark bg and soft hands hope to portray the special emotion my daughter was feeling and of course, Granny!.
Does it work?

This is really the first time my daughter actually touched one of her babies - 6 hrs after birth.

Good news is they now both weigh just under 2.5kgs and Teagan should be coming home next week. Kaylin is battling with oxygen saturation levels when feeding so will be in a bit longer.:)

[Cheryl Flory]

Jeni, what wonderful news! and an exciting time for everyone! wow.

love the image, such great details and you are certainly focused on the important moment happening in the image.

How did you make it? Can you add a bit more of the mom's wrist?

[Jeni Williams]

Cheryl, thank you. Yes, I could add more of the wrist; but I wonder if that would throw the balance out?

I cropped the image, selected, copied and dragged the hands onto a larger new file. Then on a bg copy I selected solid colour in black, added a layer mask and with a soft brush brought back the hands. A gaussain blur to soften everything added a layer mask again and sharpened what I wanted the focus on. I would maybe have liked a soft light around the hands blending into the darker bg but am not sure if would work. Opinions!!!:)

[Alfred Forns]

Love the idea Jeni would only have a smoother transition !! Big Congrats on this one !!!

[Cheryl Flory]

how would you make a smoother transition in this image?

[kostas nianiopoulos]

amazing image Jeni , well done .

[Bill Dix]

Jeni, This is a really lovely image, and a wonderful moment to capture. Congratulations on both counts!

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Unique and has a strong feel- well done.

[Phil Ertel]

Hi Jeni, I find this captivating. While being minimal it overwhelming with emotion. I agree with Alfred, smooth the transition a little and you have winner. Thanks very much for sharing.

[Oscar Zangroniz]

First of all big congrats. A very unique and original image. Like it as presented.
Congrats again on a very special moment.

[Gus Cobos]

Congratulations Jeni,
I like the composition and capture...the transition from blacks to whites should be a tad smoother, I would suggest toning down the whites of the hand a little...:):cool:

[Jeni Williams]

Thank you all so much for viewing and commenting. I'm going up to my daughter next week for a month when the babies come home and intend printing this on canvas and block mounting it for her.
So..........Cheryl's Q ....how do you make the transition smoother?:)

[Gail Spitler]

Hi Jeni
Lovely image and I agree that making it a bit less contrasty and less sharp on the adult hand might make the image even more effective. I am way over my depth here but as a possibility I tried opening the image in ACR, then used the adjustment brush. I played with lowering the clarity, sharpness and contrast. I would have posted the results of my efforts but the file size is awfully small. By softening the adult hand, the eye is drawn to the child's hand more directly.
I think you could do something similar using layers, but I am still working on that area so can't give any advice for that.
I guess I would try softening the whole image just to see if I liked the result. Or baby hand softened some and adult more?

Anyway - this is really nice, and a family heirloom worth working on.

Cheers
Gail