remy
Junior Member
Registered: August 2006
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This is my first post.
I usually want to keep things clean and clear when I retouch. Essentially, I want the things I work on to appear untouched by photoshop, like they were shot that way.
How I did this:
(Before you do anything, COPY THE SOURCE LAYER!)
1. Even out skin tone, remove wrinkles, remove shadows, and any blemishes.
Using my favorite tool for blemish removal (Smudge, ~10px round brush, 30% opacity, brush mode set to Lighten) and adjusting brush size according to the section, just bounce back and forth in short drags to reduce and remove trouble spots. Beware of areas with distinct highlight changes, the smudge effect will be very visible there.
2. Levels adjustment.
The photo is far too dark, a quick levels check reveals why. Using the RGB channel raise the white level to the point where the level data starts to ramp up. Move the black level inward a bit to add more contrast and move the neutral level (the center one) closer to the black level.
3. Restructure jaw
I adjusted her jawline slightly to slim her features a bit. I've always found that a little bit goes a long way with this so be careful.
Make a lasso selection around one side of the jaw from the edge of the chin to just below the ear. Keep the selection thin, you don't want much of her hair or cheek. Once selected, Free Transform the selection and squeeze it inward with the left or right handle. Take care to make sure the effect is very subtle and doesn't overly distort her features. Repeat for the opposing side of her face.
4. Overall saturation adjustment
Even though it's obvious that she's got some very vibrant colors, they are a bit washed out. Use a Hue/saturation layer to boost saturation to 25 over the baseline.
That's it. About 5-10 mins of work (depending on your familiarity with PS). Hope that explanation makes sense, shoot me a note if it doesn't.
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