"I Worked Hard"

[theantiquetiger]

My oldest daughter, Maddy, made the "Principal's Honor Roll List",and they had a small ceremony tonight. They were on a dark stage only lit by a projector that was showing words of encouragement behind them. I was about 40-50 ft away and fighting the rapid movement of the kids, the bad lighting, and just trying to get Maddy to look at me with a smile.

When I get home and upload, I wasn't too happy with any of the shots (over exposed, under exposed, OOF, etc). I realized this shot had "I Worked Hard" broadcast on their certificates from the projector.

It was a little soft in her eyes and under exposed. Luckily her face was lit up from the projector.

In the first example, I did a little sharpening on her eyes and blurred everything but her face and the two certificates.

The second example, I sharpened the eyes, increased the contrast and brightness, and increased the saturation some.

What do you think? I would like to get the best I can out of this shot for my wife. I can upload the original if you want, if you have any advice