Toronto Photography Meetup Group

My friend asked me to take photos at her wedding reception. It was in a dimly lit room but I didn't want to use flash all the time, so a lot of photos are "available light" and look reddish. I'd like people's opinion on what the best post-processing would be (and why!) - I've included three copies of the same photo:

Picture A: The original, as shot by the D300 (f/2.8, ISO 1600):


Picture B: "Auto-tone" correction in LR:


Picture C: "Auto-tone" and manually corrected for white balance in LR:


Picture D: manually corrected for white balance in LR:


Edited to add Picture D, which won't appear in the poll.

I like "Picture D" the best.

I concur. B and C lack some contrast... and I actually don't mind the original

"D" then "A"

This is the flickr "full-size" of D - 1600px wide.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3114/2757694055_e52387d3ea_o.jpg

ya D is nice overall, nice job

A is pretty good just a hint of yellow from the tungsten lighting it looks like

Thanks all - looks like D is the winner.

I personally think that in terms of WB, C looks right. But in terms of the overall effect, i'll go with D : )

I also like D.

A is my choice for overall image appeal.

While D may have more "ideal" lighting, it's also more "typical".
There's more to a photograph than having text-book lighting.

Version A has lighting which is suggestive of a mood. For lack of a better term, "burlesque". It matches the expressions of the subjects, the style of her dress, and the visual ambiance.
Comparatively speaking, D looks like someone stood up with a pocket camera and clicked a picture.

From my interpretation of your original question for help, I would offer these suggestions:
- lighten the image slightly to provide little more separation for her hair
- maintain the contrast
- if you start to notice grain/noise, revert back a few steps
- avoid the visual results of C, as green is never a complimentary undertone for skin

=)