Anniversary - Print-a-Day-16

This is number 16 in the series "Print-a-Day for 30 Days."

This is my cousin and her husband on their 24th wedding anniversary.  They're watching a video of their family history that was put together, as a surprise,  by their daughters.

This is, technically, a pretty bad photo.  We were sitting in a slightly darkened room, there is a big bright spot on the window shades, the ISO went way too high and the original photo is full of noise.  It's even slightly out of focus.  I was close to tossing it.

I'd rather the photo was technically better, but the expressions are just too good.  This image captures the feeling of that moment and will always be one of my favorites.

Lightroom helped save the photo.  The highlights were subdued and the shadows were increased.  Noise reduction was applied with a pretty heavy hand.  That smooths the skin a little more than I'd like. (I'm sure my cousin won't complain.)  A vignette helps to darken the window light.  Her hair and glasses were made a bit sharper with the adjustment brush.

And what do you know, when you look at the final 8x10 print from a normal viewing distance, it turns out to be a pretty good photo.  Not great, but it'll do.

gs