Beauty re touching advice and help please

I agree with most of the comments here, although I don't agree with some of the edits. I think Mark's edit is the best--least distraction, most realistic skin colors. I'd focus on how to avoid these problems in the future.

1. It looks like you used direct flash. If you did, I wouldn't, especially at close distances. Buy yourself a sto-fen, bounce the light, and use a bounce card like a demb flip-it to get direct light for catch lights. There are plenty of other flash modifiers, but this combination is cheap, easy to use, and generally works well. If you mount the Flip-It on the short end, you can even get portrait orientation without buying a bracket, just by rotating the flash head.

2. Avoid cluttered backgrounds if you can, and if you can't, try to use framing to lessen their impact. You shot at f 2.8, so there isn't much more you could do in that respect; the problem is that the clutter is just too close to the subject.

You can deal with cluttered backgrounds in post, but it is sometimes hard to avoid an artificial look, and it is hard (at least for me) to get a selection edge that works. The basic approach is to select everything that you want blurred, with a highly feathered edge that doesn't touch the person, and then add gaussian blur to taste.

How about this? I realize that I cropped this too tight at the top but, I don't want to redo the entire edit...

http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-Kt5NQXL-L.jpg

I desaturated this a bit to get rid of the orange glow...

Took a turn myself, this is why I do not like to take images of people, the orange glow is driving me nuts. She looks like she has had applied a fake tan looking more like a carrot, this image shows the importance of getting a proper white balance to get a good starting point.
Well here is my effort I am not happy with it, however it is the best I could do at this time and stage.

Cheers: Allan

http://i57.tinypic.com/x60xhy.jpg

Took a RGB reading of the top of (her) left-hand arm and found the red channel had maxed at 255.
Made a cyan compensating colour photo filter and applied with a painted mask.
Using darken painted sampled skin tone over bright skin tones on forehead and nose.
Did a bit of dogging and burning in various areas to reduce distractions in background.

Realised I should have started it all by doing a levels adjustment on individual channels. Would have been faster and possibly more successful.

It needs more cropping and may be a touch warmer.

http://i62.tinypic.com/30wkt1x.jpg

Another thing I might add -- can someone lighten up her armpits? Sorry this has been irritating me for a while, while everyone takes a shot of editing her face and everything else...:o

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Originally Posted by IzzieK

Another thing I might add -- can someone lighten up her armpits? Sorry this has been irritating me for a while, while everyone takes a shot of editing her face and everything else...:o

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http://i60.tinypic.com/htz280.jpg

Hi Guys,

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Much better composition. I'd be tempted to clone out the armpit creases on right arm.

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I agree John, i tried and couldnt get it to look right, ill have another go.

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I'm still inclined to feel it's a touch to bright. Darkening will probably bring up her face more. ;) I can't help having a play.

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I had actually reduced the exposure John but you are correct yours looks better, The guy on the tutorial said "do your edits, go for a coffee and if it looks good when you come back , you done" I dont drink coffee, maybe i shouldnt take people toooo literally ;)

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Just now needs to lose that mirror edge reflection behind her which distracts and you are getting there.
Certainly all the background clutter especially THAT drinks can and straw were dreadfully distracting.

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I agree Ian This was actually the first proper edit the first was OOC with a minor crop and was just a starting point, Im thinking of having a go at editing the wider crop and removing her from the background, This is all an exercise in PP skills, New information used to stay in my head a lot easier when i was younger!!!

Made 2 attempts at getting rid of the reflection, ill have another go tonight, but so far i couldnt get it to look right.

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Two different edits and both are good and acceptable now without the distractions around her. +1 to John's comments.

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Not quite sure what you mean Izzie, this is my first attempt

I suspect skin tone wise it's a curves problem early on. Manfred has made the comment that Nikon's software does a better job in this area. I found the comment often applies to many colours. The fact that when I added a rather whacking contrast change and the orange tended to blend in suggests the same thing. Maybe the adobe portrait profile might help. ;) This is why I upgraded my laptop recently. 2 Nikon cameras and I don't like "wind from mid rear" ing about when there is no need so will use it in much the same way as people use ACR - for raw conversion and then export.

I sometimes look at what I have done an hour later or even a year and think yuck.

John
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Originally Posted by Mark von Kanel

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Not quite sure what you mean Izzie, this is my first attempt

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Paul did it for me...I am not criticizing you...I am no better than you, but sometimes in the confusion of trying to read all the comments given, no one mentioned her darkish armpits that needed attention too...or the crease on the other arm on the left hand side. Forgive me for being too discerning. I am just getting into the game of looking at everything...including my own mistakes. Others will see it better than me on mine too. That is why I like CiC...most don't mince their words just to be kind. I am sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean to...

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Originally Posted by IzzieK

Paul did it for me...I am not criticizing you...I am no better than you, but sometimes in the confusion of trying to read all the comments given, no one mentioned her darkish armpits that needed attention too...or the crease on the other arm on the left hand side. Forgive me for being too discerning. I am just getting into the game of looking at everything...including my own mistakes. Others will see it better than me on mine too. That is why I like CiC...most don't mince their words just to be kind. I am sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean to...

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Izzie im in no way offended i was just a little confused, i want the most critical C&C possible, its always well ment on here, im not easily offended anyway! ;)

Hi Dan, thanks for your comments, and all well taken. It was actually the built in flash, the venue had mixed lighting and unfortunately as it was in Romania and i was just taking snaps, i hadnt bought any of my speedlights with me. Ive tried stofen and dont think much of them so normally for this sort of thing ill use an assistant with either an easy box and single speedlight with pocket wizard mounted on a pole or if i need more light i have a lencarter mount which allows up to 3 speedlights in a smallish soft box

it was getting on for midnight The light was very poor and 1/80 @ iso 6400 f 28 was pushing it for somebody that had been drinking steadily for 5 hours :D Both the background and the subject looked out of focus to me at the time ;)

Richard, was thinking of a dark vignette but couldnt figure out how in PS and was too lazy to re do in LR .... will try that

What really stuck out on the image to me was the bags under her eyes, its strange that no one has edited these other than me!

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Originally Posted by Mark von Kanel

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Richard, was thinking of a dark vignette but couldnt figure out how in PS and was too lazy to re do in LR .... will try that

What really stuck out on the image to me was the bags under her eyes, its strange that no one has edited these other than me!

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Several ways of forming a dark vignette in PS. The simplest is just to emulate how it was done in the good old days and use the burn tool with a big soft brush and paint it around the perimeter.

In my edit above I did lighten the bags under her eyes slightly. It is always a compromise between realism or starting to look photoshopped. I favour reducing/softening wrinkles and blemishes etc rather than eliminating them.

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Several ways of forming a dark vignette in PS. The simplest is just to emulate how it was done in the good old days and use the burn tool with a big soft brush and paint it around the perimeter.

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DOH! didnt think of that, learning loads here, Thanks all!

In my known, Phototrims do this easily. They also can help you to How Doing Retouching and also with all technique.

I think sometimes minimal is more. IMO.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ve/2zoznzl.png