Skin Retouching

[Colin Southern]

Good.

Here's an example of what I was meaning with the tones (keeping in mind though that this kind of tweaking loses it's punch on monitors with different calibration)



Just keep in mind that the placement and relative strength of your key light determines how much "weight" appears on the face. On a skinny model you can light them pretty much front on and get away with it (even add some weight to the face), eg



Whereas if you have a BFUB (big, fat, ugly b'stard) (like me) - you need to move it all the way around to the side, eg



So when you're trying to produce a flattering look for a woman, it's the positioning of the key light - and strength of the fill light (thus determining the contrast ratio) - and the harshness of the light - that determine how flattering the shot is.

[speedneeder]

[gregj1763]

Hi Colin,
I agree the software is a bit like taking an axe to a wedding cake if you let it. (I have seen that done.)
I am a novice at post processing and I need all the help I can get.
Here is an example of a photo I took and used PSE 10 as well as Portrait professional to get the results I was after.



Not perfect, I know but a result I was happy with.
Cheers Greg

[Maritimer1]

Brian, your wife is a beautiful woman and I LOVE the lighting on her hair and face. Very happy you posted it as we can all learn so much from the resulting dialogue.

If you ever have the chance to take this shot again (same lighting and background), ask your wife if she would consider a beautiful shawl around her shoulders (muted, heather tones if she has one) to give this an old world type look as her own "look" is just so classic and lovely.

[speedneeder]

Thank you for your comments Myra
Good idea on the wardrobe - I hadn't given this any thought as I was trying to learn the limitations of my flash equipment for outdoor off camera ETTL stuff. Basically trying to figure out what I CANT do.
My fledgling photo biz has started off with a sputter - a single inquiry about some outdoor family portrait type stuff - something I have little experience with and my usual full manual flash stuff isn't ideally suited for.

[Maritimer1]

We're both fledglings. Maybe go for natural light photography to start (since they want outdoor shots) and work on perfecting the flash techniques?

[Colin Southern]

Hi Colin,
I agree the software is a bit like taking an axe to a wedding cake if you let it. (I have seen that done.)
I am a novice at post processing and I need all the help I can get.
Here is an example of a photo I took and used PSE 10 as well as Portrait professional to get the results I was after.



Not perfect, I know but a result I was happy with.
Cheers Greg

Hi Greg,

It's certainly better than a lot that I've seen, but it would really benefit from a different sharpening of the young lady's right eye compared to the left - two or 3 blemish removals - and less softening around the what should be harder edges (like the jaw line).

Thinking about it, I think it's a bit like calculators ... I use them (in fact I collect them!), but I never ask a calculator to do anything that I couldn't do long hand - so I understand the processes involved, whereas I think something is lost when folks use a calculator to do something that they couldn't do themselves.

When it comes to retouching, we can end up doing things like

- Iris colour and contrast
- Catchlight enhancement
- Removing veins in the whites of the eyes
- Whitening the eyes
- Raising the shadow levels of eye sockets
- Sharpening the eyes
- Extending eye lashes
- Enhancing brows
- Removing bags under eyes
- Reworking lines around eyes

... and that's just the eyes.

[Colin Southern]

Thank you for your comments Myra
Good idea on the wardrobe - I hadn't given this any thought as I was trying to learn the limitations of my flash equipment for outdoor off camera ETTL stuff. Basically trying to figure out what I CANT do.
My fledgling photo biz has started off with a sputter - a single inquiry about some outdoor family portrait type stuff - something I have little experience with and my usual full manual flash stuff isn't ideally suited for.

Manual exposure isn't necessarily a bad thing for a staged scene (where the light isn't changing) - ETTL is unbeatable when "on the move", but if you have a few minutes to set the lights up, you'll usually find that you don't need to vary the output much anyway (typically 1/4 to 1/2 power into a brolly) ... just look carefully at the image on the review screen. Personally, I find posing a group to be more of a challenge. So long as you shoot RAW and avoid fundamental errors like one head casting a big shadow across the face of another, then we can usually push/pull things in post-production. I simply say that I guarantee my work - and if it's not up to the standard they expect then by golly we'll go shoot it again (never had to).

[gregj1763]

Thanks for the tips on improving the photo Colin.
I have a lot of learning to do, that's why I joined this forum.
Cheers Greg

[speedneeder]

we're both fledglings.

oreally?

[speedneeder]

Thanks for the tips on improving the photo Colin.
I have a lot of learning to do, that's why I joined this forum.
Cheers Greg

This forum rocks for improving at many different skill levels - I love it!

[Colin Southern]

This forum rocks for improving at many different skill levels - I love it!

Learn the "secrets of the pros" ... and it's not a book title for once!