Add your comments, questions or general discussion about the July Contest entries as well as the contest itself here. This is also a great place to share your techniques or ask others about theirs.

As you will see from my entry, glamour work isn't my thing. But it has made me look in to it. Searching through, I can see there are many ways of getting the glamour effect. Also there are many different looks to a glamour finish, so I will be interested in what look people go for.
I liked the B/W idea of the first entry, gives a totally different feel to the photo :cool:

TPaul - you really know how to pick them! This one is tricky, and has a lot of challenge to it!

I wanted to get a view on the definition in this situation of a glamour portrait - ie. how much 'plastic surgery' I might be able to get away with? If this was a photographic model to appear in a magazine I would make more alterations, than say, if it was someone wanting a picture of themselves to hang on the wall. Any chance of some clarification on this point?

caitlin,

i had the same question. i went back and read the rules again. the only stipulation seems to be that you must keep it as a photo, not photo art. that leaves a LOT of room for adjustment as far as i can tell. for instance, i see no reason why you couldnt completely replace her hair if you wanted to, as long as it was realistic hair. change her dress as long as the dress is more or less real. and so on and so forth. but you wouldnt want to make the image look like a water color or oil painting. and i think that's the point here. keep it looking like a photo that you could put in cosmo and have folks believe it is a photo. but that's only my interpretation and i've 'interpreted' wrong before ;)

ultimately, it's going to be the voters that decide if your image stuck to the rules or not.

also, i agree, at first glance this seems like an easy assignment, but there are some tricky areas here. so, good luck to all :)

Craig

First off, I try to keep the rules to a minimum as not to hamper any creativity. That being said, the idea of this challenge is to “glamorize” the existing photo. Consider that the client wants her image turned into a model-look. I would stay fairly true to eye and hair color. You can add highlights, but I wouldn't completely replace or alter her hair. I believe the key is to “enhance” what is there without making the person look completely unrealistic. The client wants to improve "her look", not change herself into a completely different person.

Some people may want to try a little digital plastic surgery. Try doing the basic retouching steps first, then experiment with the highlights and shadows before you start “nipping and tucking”. You'd be amazed how much you can contour a face by simple working with the highlights and shadows of an image. For instance, a simple change to them can dramatically change the shape of nose.

Some basic approaches:
Skin
Smooth texture, remove blemishes and major wrinkles
Remove hot spots (shininess)

Hair
Eliminate fly-aways/wispy hairs
Fill in gaps
Eyes
Brighten Whites
Soften under-eye circles
Remove distracting catch lights
Enhance color
Eyebrows
Reshape if necessary
Remove stray hairs
Nose
Soften hard shadows on sides of nose
Lips
Reshape if necessary
Enhance color
Add or even out highlights
Face
Improve highlights and shadows

arrgh! ok, this new 'amendment' quite possibly just voided quite a few hours of work. i went strictly by the 'keep it a photograph' and was well within those parameters. i didnt base this on the model coming to me and asking for work, but rather the photographer or editor coming and saying, 'ok, make this the best you can as long as you keep it as a photograph'. this amendment changes all that. i changed a number of things that the model, herself wouldnt have wanted changed, but that a fashion magazine wouldnt necessarily care about or mind.

and i know the voters here. they read and follow the rules exactly when they vote. with this new guide i'm gonna be out of the running if it's strictly interpreted. so, now i dont know whether to go back to a MUCh earlier save or take the risk and go with how i've been going. i hate 'late' rules!

Craig

The above was not a rule change.

The rules don't say you can't change the hair color and so on. I was just suggesting that most glamour shots are kept true to the original image as well as offering some suggestions to help those that have never enhanced a photo before.

As long as you keep it as a photograph and don't convert it to photo art then you are technically meeting the rules. So go ahead and glamourize it as you see fit. This competition is open to creativity.

Hmmm... I don't think we are ever going to get a challenge where the boundaries are crystal clear! *lol* I guess that is the nature of the art.

I hadn't thought to actually replace facial (or hair) features.

You can change appearance A LOT working with what is already there though. Altering shadows can have a dramatic effect. Sounds like that is acceptable, and as reshaping lips, eyebrows etc is mentioned obviously subtle facial modification is ok. I have certainly seen glamour photography (You know the stuff you see on display in shopping 'malls') where people's appearances change quite considerably through various airbrushing techniques.

ok. thank you, T Paul :)

Craig

Smile, I never like to see work go to waste! ;)

Note, the photographer/model (it was a self portrait) will be viewing the contest threads to see the results.

TPaul, there is a minor typo in the rules. .......the deadline is 24 JUNE 2005.

Thanks for the catch Kiska. It has been changed to July. :)

TPaul, so far all of the entries are beautiful remakes, but I thought you said it was to look like a photograph. Practically all of them look like paintings or drawings (hence, photo art). I read the rules of the contest and the additions that you added, and I could have enhanced her more, but I am trying to stay within the rules. Am I confused and making a lot of to do about nothing? Thanks.

TPaul, so far all of the entries are beautiful remakes, but I thought you said it was to look like a photograph. Practically all of them look like paintings or drawings (hence, photo art)...

What makes you think of these entries as "paintings"?

The ones that I have looked at could have been shot with a camera in front of their background. Faustina's work gave the subject glowing perfect skin, and sparkling eyes -- but I can see it as a photo of a person with those traits (or the makeup to look like those traits). ;) Retouching techniques can create that improved look -- painting or airbrushing over the skin does not create a "painting".

What is the "look" that makes you think that rules have been broken?

CJ, evidently you did not read all or perhaps understand my post. I did not say all of the entries look like photo art, nor did I mention any particular entry. I was asking TPaul what I thought was something to help me concerning my entry in the contest. Each person is entitled to their own opinion, that is why there are votes for the entries.

I thought it might help to get a definition of a glamour portrait. I don't know that this definition helps at all though as it seems to require the model to be partially nude! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glamour_photography.

In my google browsing I didn't find one site that gave really definitive examples of glamour photography, but I'd suggest anyone in doubt does a search with goggle images with the words glamour portrait (http://images.google.com.au/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-52,GGLD:en&q=glamour+portrait) and look at the examples that come up.

I think the point CJ picked up on, as I did was:
Practically all of them look like paintings or drawings (hence, photo art)

I think the point CJ picked up on, as I did was:
Practically all of them look like paintings or drawings (hence, photo art)Maybe that is the test of a 'good' retouch? To me this contest is not that different in aim to the wedding portrait a couple of months ago - make her look really nice, but so no one can tell you did it. (IF they hadn't seen the before)

Personally I don't think all the entries so far look like 'paintings' - some of them maybe do push the boundaries a little too far for my taste, but the majority I think are quite beleivable portraits. I think the important thing is that she looks great, and you can believe with enough good lighting and lots of makeup she could look like that.

Caitlin, good suggestion. I, like you, went to Google and put in "glamour shots" and with the sites I went to, the photos looked lovely, but still looked like natural skin without the shadows and different colorizations of the skin as some air brushing and enhancing does do. They also did not have the extra smooth skin that make the models look unnaturally plastic. I'm by no means a pro at glamour shots and I probably don't have the expertise that some of the entrants do, and I did not say anyone was breaking any rules, I was just asking a question to make sure that I was doing the right thing. As I said before, the entries so far are beautiful and I wish everyone good luck. I think I'll just withdraw my entry and just enjoy the contest for other's interpretations and use the site for learning.

Hi guys and gals !

I think we must not forget RULE #4 !? :wink: Let's just have fun doing whatever we think is the best method.

Before starting to work on any of these challenges or contests and after I have a sketch in my mind one of the nicest things I like to do is research for photos to use -most I don't but still pick them up- in a particular project, for this one I had zillions of pretty ladies with nice hair styles to "implant" in the model, now ... well I will try to fix her hair in the best possible way !

One thing that I am not sure you have noticed, the model has the most perfectly symetrical (1 or two "ms" ?) features I have encountered so far.

OK , thanks for reading my 2bits. :clown: :pleased:

regards - Martha :wavey:

OOPS "rule #4 - Have fun, is from another contest/challenge sorry about that TPaul :blush: .

Don't withdraw MsBay! Everyone's interpretations are different, and yours is just as valid as anyone else's! One thing I have noticed is a lot of people have made amendments to their entries already, so I think there is a lot of uncertainty about how to approach this one.

I agree with Caitlin, MsBay, don't withdraw. Each piece is different and that is good. There are always going to be a big variety in styles and interpretations in these contests and differences of opinions.

Cathy :surprise:

Why would anyone withdraw an entry? ---- I did mine as if I was doing one for myself. Now maybe I "cross" lines" at times -- but hey my grandchildren are going to think I was the most beautiful grandama! LOL :pleased:

Now as far as "air" brushed skin -- OK go to google and do a search, then look at the cover of magazines at the grocery store ----- very different! LOL

I am not even going to bring up the children beauty pagents! Extra smooth skin, eye lashes and make up -- yup.

I say do what you feel makes this beautiful woman look glamourus --- that would make your entry you.

I did not do a search of how to make someone glamourus --- I just looked at a beautiful woman and went from there.

Best of luck to everyone :bigthmb: === T- very nice challenge!

When I think of Photo Art, I think of a photo that has been converted to look like art work in a variety of medium such as a watercolor, oil, pencil, charcoal and so on.

As for this contest, keeping it as a photo doesn’t mean it can’t have some flare to it. Many special effects that are created digitally can be achieved in regular photography through filters, darkroom techniques, backdrops, lighting, special film and so on.

Some possibilities are:

Black & White
Sepia tone or other tinted tone
Dreamy Photo (Soft Blur)
High Key
Low Key
Double Exposures
Infrared
Warm tones/Cool tones
Silhouettes
Panning and other techniques to create movement
and many more

There also might be some confusion in that you can add make-up, touch up hair, smooth skin, retouch the face, change the background, change the color of the clothes, and even resize some facial features while still keeping the image a photograph. This is a "glamour" retouch. :)

Here are some sites with some Before and After samples:
Glamour Retouching (http://www.touchofglamour.com/Pageant%20Enhancement%201.htm)
Touch of Glamour (http://www.touchofglamour.com/Photo_Retouching.htm)
Digital Retouch (http://www.digitalretouch.org/portrait_gallery.html)
Glitter Guru (http://www.glitterguru.com/suzette/beforeandafters/ref.htm)
Beauty Retouching (http://www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop/beauty_retouching.html)
Photo Retouching Tutorials (http://www.good-tutorials.com/tutorials/9?change=1&list=1&view=50)

i think the bottom line here is 'do you recognize what you see here as basically a photograph with some enhancements or as something else?'

take it the other way around. let's say you take a picture of a kabuki actor all made up in heavy covering. now, let's say you took that same person in that same pose but without the makeup and then added it yourself in photoshop to look exactly the same as the first one. and bringing it a little closer to home, let's say this model in the contest was all done up by a professional stylist, makeup artist and dressmaker and the cameraman used a number of camera tricks to make things even better still. it's all doctored, but it was done before the shot was taken. and trust me, i know some folks who could do this and you'd believe it was photo art.

the thing is, 'glamour photography' IS very much like 'photo art'. you could almost call it a sub-division of photo art. and that may be where the confusion lies. the difference, to me, is, when i look at the final rendering does it look more like an art piece or a photograph. and in all the entries i've seen thus far, they all qualify [u[primarily[/u] as photographs. there is a line you might cross and i can certainly understand msbay wanting a better definition of where that line is for her own entry. as you can see from my own question in earlier posts, i thought T Paul had moved that line. he didnt, but i thought he had. i think msbay is looking at the same question; where do you draw that line. it's a fair question.

Craig

I agree it is very confusing! For instance Flora just posted an entry and made the comment "I know I bent the rules a bit with her hair" and I thought "huh??". Putting her in a purple wig may be bending the rules, just giving her a neater hairdo is quite the opposite - it's exactly what 'Glamour Photography' should be I think - taking away the imperfections, and 'tarting you up' a bit, and more too possibly. I think it'll be a real shame if people are scared to make 'artistic alterations', in order to make it a more attractive and glamourous photographic image. Now, as some one has already mentioned, then there's that kid's peagent stuff - that's in another ball park again - from what I've seen sometimes VERY un-photographic looking.

Looking at the entries so far I guess I'm a bit surprised that only one so far has tried to complete the top of the lady's hair. So just wanted to confirm that doing so, and for instance changing the dress to be more 'glamourous' are appropriate in this contest?

ya know, i think we can overthink this. if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, chances are, it's a duck ;)

the ONLY real criteria was 'keep it as a photo'. so, if it looks like a photo...

Craig

Quack, Quack....

You can add make-up, touch up hair, smooth skin, retouch the face, change the background, change the color of the clothes, and even resize some facial features while still keeping the image a photograph. This is a "glamour" retouch. :)

Erhem... ok so actually changing her clothes (not just the colour) is ok too I will presume.

Caitlin, I wouldn't put much stock in the Wikipedia definition. It's typical of a work written by a preponderance of fifteen-year-old boys. ;) (Which is one of the reasons I stopped contributing there, but that's another story.)

To me, and I think to most people, glamor photography is Vogue and Cosmopolitan, not Playboy and Penthouse.

Erhem... ok so actually changing her clothes (not just the colour) is ok too I will presume.

Yes, you can change her clothes. The main rule to keep in mind is that you must keep the image as a photograph. As long as you do that, you will be fine. So get as creative and glamorous as you want.

:)

I think that "nit" has been picked clean!..

actually, T Paul, i think it's 'Aflac!' ;)

Craig

actually, T Paul, i think it's 'Aflac!' ;)

CraigI have a horrible feeling I'm being made fun of here and I don't know it!!! :blush: What does AFLAC mean - it's not in the same realm as RTFM is it??

*signed* Proud Nitpicker :devil:

May be wrong but this could be Aflac http://www.tvacres.com/adanimals_aflac.htm

Ah - insurance. Yes indeedy - In that case I think Craig got my drift :tongue:

gen,

dont know if you read the discussion thread or not, but your two entries are against the rules. you're only allowed one. also, the overall image size you've posted is quite large. the entries are supposed to be as close to 800 x 600 pixels as possible.

i believe you can enter one image and change it before the deadline, but only one entry overall is allowed.

see contest rules for certainty on this, though.

Craig

Hi all !

Have just posted my "masterpiece" , after struggling for almost a week with the hair and the loose strands ! I hope it does not come out too light in other monitors, mine tends to show colours "toned down". A funny thing, I tried to use a different colour for the background but the only good one was in the beiges scale, I know it complements the eyes and hair colour and the black of the dress :blush:

I used some "doctoring" in the base of the nose, added eye shadow, extended the lashes a bit and "plucked" the eyebrows to make the nose look narrower. The rest involved several blending styles, a few added layers with just flesh colour and of course last was the background for which I used a glass stock photo, and added a lighting effect.

Please let me know if there is anything special anyone would like to know.

After posting mine I could then look in detail all the variety of interpretations so far, and they are all just great ! Congratulations to all !

Regards - Martha :wavey:

P.S.: Craig you have not posted an entry yet, guess it's on account that no sharks or fish swimming by can be added ? Oh ! of course they could be passing by in the background :wink: Rgds M.

hehehe, martha. i'll remember that ;)

it's still early. you never know; i might have something buzzing around :)

Craig

hehehe, martha. i'll remember that
it's still early. you never know; i might have something buzzing around
Craig

:lmao: Now why am I not surprised ?! But then your entry will be disqualified!! :sad: Anyway, whatever you choose I am sure will be great !
Rgds - Martha :wavey:

thank marthig :)

and re your entry, it is pretty bright. you might want to turn the gamma setting down on your monitor and re-post, or use some calibration sites to help you adjust it. there are some threads floating around here somewhere that refer to some with links.

Craig

Thank you Craig,
Will search here and Google too, though I have used those programs but what happens in my monitor is that it doesn't seem to have a midtones calibration, the whites are too bright and to tone it down, the dark tones are just too dark. Sorry I can't explain this in more technical words. :(
Anyway I am much too upset for all that happened today in London, very sad.
I hope you have no relatives there ?
Regards

This contest, for me, took a long, long time. The hardest part was definitely the hair and the eyes. Plus, as a guy, I have zero experience applying women's makeup.

But, despite the number of hours (meaning days) spent on it, this was a lot of fun!


--Racc

Craig
Your tip worked ! I found the option in the nVidia settings to change the gamma setting and now I can see like most people do (I think, will check with the monitor at my office's PC). Thanks a lot ! :bow:

RaccIria
You did a great job with the hair and make up, and I understand your struggling for days, so did I with the hair mainly, this was not only a contest but a true challenge. Lots of fun nevertheless ! :)

Regards - Martha :wavey:

marthig,

you're welcome :) i see you replaced your first entry. it looks much better now!

Craig

marthig,

you're welcome :) i see you replaced your first entry. it looks much better now!

Craig

Tks Craig ! :)

Rgds - Martha :wavey:

Thanks Martha. That's nice of you to say.

--Racc

Great to see people helping others improve their entries!!! I had hope that the discussion thread would evolve to that. Kudos!!!

~T :bigthmb:

T Paul,

well, if you ever give away a car as the prize i might think otherwise about it ;)

Craig

T Paul,
well, if you ever give away a car as the prize i might think otherwise about it ;)
Craig

Hmmm! Great idea Craig !! my favourite used to be Jaguar XKE (c.1964/65) :hat: !!


TPaul, Thank you for your nice comment ! Hope you will consider Craig's idea though :pleased:

Racc
You are welcome :classic:

Regards to all - Martha :wavey:

LOL...you will have to talk to Doug about the prizes! :lol:

Heh - I just heard that the prize for the July contest was a Jaguar XKE?? Now I'm really motivated. Where is the glamorize action button in Photoshop again?
Motivated Margaret

Now that would be quite the prize!

See TPaul ? Craig's was a great idea ! :bigthmb: :lmao:

MargaretM: I am glad you feel motivated but you will have to fight with me for the :jaguar: XKE, (as you would surely beat me at designing :bawling: ) I asked for it first !! :devil: :clown:

Regards - Martha :wavey:

i can see we're going to have to post that marine from the other thread that soeone was using to paint with, to stand guard over the xke ;)

i'm such a trouble maker ;)

Craig

Craig wrote ... ... i'm such a trouble maker

Yeah !! see what you started ? hehe :lmao:

Regards - Martha :wavey:

I just submited a new version of my entry by editing the original post. I don't know if an edit is flagged as a new post, so I'm letting people know just in case.

Pierre

So they are calling the Marines in.
This contest is TOUGH.

I was looking through the contest entries when I saw Nurdant's.

Hey Nurdant, I only noticed this morning!


Pierre

Seen the last message, so looked myself.
Nurdant IS the contest picture of YOU?????
No wonder you were one of the first in!

I know this is outside the contest, but I couldn't resist. I've been working on my sketch technique for a while now and below is a link to a result. :)

http://img306.imageshack.us/img306/6160/lkrollportraitsketch0kp.jpg

Hi all ! :grin:

Do you realize we will have to pick only 5 out of -up to now- 44 submissions ? :surprise: and all just as good in one way or another !! :shocked:

By the way congratulations to all for such beautiful interpretations !

Regards - Martha :wavey:

Martha - I was thinking the same thing!
I already have well over 5 listed.
This one is going to be very difficult to choose.

Don't forget to wait until after the deadline to start making your decisions as many people change their original entry. If you see a "last edited" remark at the end of a post, then you know the entry has changed. :)

I just edited mine, LOL. I couldn't help it. I thought I could sit on my hands all month, but when I realized I didn't name my entry properly, I opened the image back up to resave, and it was just sitting there saying "play with me, play with me" LOL.

Only 2 more days! There are some great looking entries! Good luck everyone :)

Don't forget to wait until after the deadline to start making your decisions as many people change their original entry. If you see a "last edited" remark at the end of a post, then you know the entry has changed. :)

Yes - and will wait till the close to go through everything again.
That will make it all the harder! LOL

like I said this is not going to be easy! Great entries - best luck to all !

Martha - I was thinking the same thing!
I already have well over 5 listed.
This one is going to be very difficult to choose.

I think there could be some sort of bottleneck when all of us start posting our votes !! :grin: T Paul might even have to extend the deadline ! :masked: :happy:

Lucky you Jill that have selected some, I review all the postings often in order to try to remember and make up my mind but they all have something good so I cannot decide which portrait to discard. :dizzy: :rolleyes:

Well all the best to us, soon to be voters :happy:
Regards - Martha :wavey:

Lucky you Jill that have selected some, I review all the postings often in order to try to remember and make up my mind but they all have something good so I cannot decide which portrait to discard. :dizzy: :rolleyes:
I'm happy to create a photo album of all the entries as I did in the May context, if people would find it useful. I know when there are a large number of entries it can help a bit in narrowing down your shortlist, and not having everyone worrying about downloading everyone's entries. I would have to take the April photo album down to make room though.

I'm happy to create a photo album of all the entries as I did in the May context, if people would find it useful. I know when there are a large number of entries it can help a bit in narrowing down your shortlist, and not having everyone worrying about downloading everyone's entries. I would have to take the April photo album down to make room though.

Again, many many thanks for your offer, I was thinking about that precisely and how helpful it would be for this contest !
Great idea ! :bigthmb:

Regards - Martha :wavey:

My idea of "glamour retouch." Had lots (and lots and lots and lots) of fun.
nice job with the highlights in the hair
S

Here's my entry...
ok so i wish i had your foresight and talent ... nice job

Here,s mine! was a great fun to do it!

i love this version although im not sure 'glamour' was the final outcome ... amazing in its own right!

Alittle worried about the interpretation of the rules on this one. But it was fun to do! Good luck everyone!

~Amber~

nice job i think you really captured the 'glam' here

Had fun, thanks :) Spent about 8 hours retouching it.

Good luck to everyone!

well liz 8 hours? ... it shows ... really nice job ... smooth and damn i think you made her hotter than she really is!!!

S

I am thrilled will all the entries in this month’s contest and so many new names! Great job to all!! :)

It was fun looking at all the different approaches…lots of background changes, make-up, sparkles, sequins, hair extensions, cropping and so on. I’m sure there are several techniques people would like to learn. So, if you like something or want to know how someone created their entry please ask, and for those of you that want to share, don’t hesitate to go ahead and share your steps. This is a learning/sharing web site!

~T

I tried to upload my entry today (July 24) but the thread is closed. I thought that entries could be posted THROUGH the 24th.

Morley

Deadline for entries was 5pm EDT 24 July 2005.

I should have read the rules more carefully. I missed the deadline by about 5 min.

You can post your entry to the July 05 Discussion thread (this thread) so your work can still be viewed...just not voted on.

Looks like I was to late to post my attempt to the contest, so I am posting here to see what kind of feedback I get. This is my first attempt at this kind of work, so any constructive comments are welcome.

Thank you

Hi,
I've just missed the deadline too by a few hours...but hey I'll put mine here too....
It's not really fair for us to get an extension...but you never know....
WideAngle

The contest album seems to be missing pjulich's entry.

It is... there are 46 entries and the original in the photo album (thank you for doing this Caitlin) and there are 47 entries in the contest thread.

It looks like you guys are right! I'm dreadfully sorry. :( I guess the mix up has occured as pjulich named their entry 'portait7' - and as I downloaded them all into a folder as they came in, I probably removed it thinking it was a duplicate of one of the others that was updated. However there are only 46 entries (post 1 is TPauls announcement) so I will have to check through to work out where the duplication has occured. I made sure I had the correct total! I'm dreadfully sorry bout this, maybe if people can hold off their votes until I've sorted it out - which I will be working on now!

The photo gallery is now fixed. Sincere apologies to pjulich.

Hello Everyone,

It was an amazing experience, Thanks for the glamour works. Especially thank you Paul for choosing my portrait. I'm living in Istanbul.This picture was taken at my niece's Birthday Party. I will also follow the coming up contests.


Thank you very very much.

Hi Nurdant and thanks so much for letting us play with your portrait. It certainly was fun.
Also thanks so much Caitlin for the gallery - it will certainly help when I find time to cast my vote.
Applause to everyone who entered - great work all round.
MargaretM

welcome to RetouchPRO, Nurdant!

and thank you for allowing us to do our pixel surgery :)

great contest, admins :) looking forward to the next one!

Craig

Yes, thanks Nurdant, your pic definitely generated some more interest in the contests, as I'm sure TPaul has noted. On that note, how about a reverse glam contest - remove makeup, mess up the hair, add baggy eyes?

Also would love to see description from Ilpro.

I also want to say thank you, Nurdant, for letting us work with your photo. I enjoyed it very much.

Doug, your idea for a reverse glam contest sounds great. :classic:

Lorraine

I like the reverse glam idea! Anyone offering a photo we can use?! :)

the reverse glam idea is an interesting one, but i think we shld kill two birds with one stone here and have it be one of the admin's pics ;) oh, floooor-aaaa!

Craig

I would definatly be interested in that contest...Sounds like fun and a challenge!

~Amber~

I like the reverse glam idea! Anyone offering a photo we can use?! :)

All of the pictures I have of me are unglammable (forward or reverse). Sorry. How about a celebrity, I know President Bush has been adjusted here before?

Just a reminder to keep those votes coming in. You took the time to enter so please take the time to vote!


~T :)

Only a few more days left to vote!!!

The voting turn out does seem a little disappointing so far TPaul. Maybe, rather than being ineligible to win if you don't vote, you should be ineligible to enter the next months contest? That may be more of an incentive?

The voting turn out does seem a little disappointing so far TPaul. Maybe, rather than being ineligible to win if you don't vote, you should be ineligible to enter the next months contest? That may be more of an incentive?
Thats a little hard on those who may have commitments that has stopped them from coming back to vote. I've only just started looking at them properly today, as I have had some important work on. Think we need to remember this is a "friendly" contest, too many restrictions will put people off.

The fact that the voting is made public from the start and not keep secret until the end of the counting may have some inconveniences for the voting process. Participants who see has few possibilities to win or enter in the top five are discouraged to vote. Some participants may want to wait to the last minute to see what the other participants are voting before submit his own voting. Another issue with public voting is that earlier participants votes can influence the votes of the later participants which is something not desirable.

Anyway, I agreed with chrishoggy: this is a friendly contest.

This is the first contest I have ever entered and I really enjoyed it.

I think the idea of a reverse glam contest is a great idea.

Thanks again to Nurdant

TPaul.
From what I have read this seems to be the first time there has been ‘View All’ display? Please can we have a ‘Download All’ Link to a Zip file as well?


Ken

I can create a zip file that could be FTPed for future contests, but realize that the file would be quite large (100kb per image), especially if a lot of people enter. I usually just download the files to my computer as they are submitted, then go back to check the edit tags for changes and update those images as necessary.

If people download each picture as they come in then a ‘download all’ link would be no use to them. But I waited till the end of the contest before downloading all the pictures so that I would have the correct version and I thought a ‘Download All’ link would have been useful.

What does everyone else think?

ken

Given the way that this web site is set up, all I can offer is a zip file that could be downloaded from an FTP site - which I am happy to offer if there is an interest.

Congratulations Faustina!

Wow, I am truly in awe. This whole process has been very cool! And coming in first among such talent is really amazing! Thank you so much to those of you who voted for my version of Nurdant's glamour portrait. I am also honored that our model herself voted for my retouch... thank you! Also thank you for the constructive criticism on the eyes, some of you. I have learned from that.

I have a lot of work to get done the next few days, but for those of you who are interested, I will post a tutorial of sorts soon. Again, thank you!

Congratulations faustina. You did a beautiful job.

Cathy :bigthmb:

congratz, faustina! see, i knew you were the one to beat :)

and congratz to everyone else. very well done!

one point, t paul, are you sure flora didnt place higher? i saw a lot of votes for hers, but in your tally she isnt listed.

Craig

Congratulations Faustina,
some great way to start your activity in the Forums, I seem to recall it was your first entry, not only in the contest but in the forum !! :bigthmb:

Cheers to all the other finalists and in general to all the participants.

Regards - Martha :wavey:

Just a reminder that those that did not vote had their images disqualified in accordance with the rules.

Congratulations Faustina!!!!!

I have a lot of work to get done the next few days, but for those of you who are interested, I will post a tutorial of sorts soon. Again, thank you!
One look at your work, and no need for words, you seem to be very experienced in this area. I'm looking forward on your tutorial. Maybe you can offer some tips on hair, make-up and so on. ;)

CONGRATULATIONS!!! :happy:

CONGRATULATIONS FAUSTINA!! Absolutely wonderful BEAUTIFUL job. And like everyone else, I am anxiously awaiting your tutorial. :D Great Job!

Dawn

Congrats Faustina! I knew when I saw your entry, that you were going to win! It was a beautiful retouch! And I am looking forward to the tutorial as well! Again Congratulations! Looking forward to seeing you in the next contest!

~Amber~

Well done Faustina!.

I am looking forward to more of your work in the upcoming contests. Like others, I would really like to see how you accomplished such an outstanding retouch.

Regards,

Sean :bow:

congrats faustina,

simply had to be your entry that took top spot as the result of your efforts was fantastic and hope that you can find the time to let us know how you achived the results and as important how you identified what you wanted/needed to do in the first place.

cheers,

nacoya

A much deserved 1st place faustina. Your work on that photo was amazing, and looking through your site I can see the high standard you work to.
I didn't think my simple job would get anywhere near the top 3, so thanks to all for the votes :cool:
Very Quick run through what I did.
1/ Used clone/spot healing brush to remove stray hair and blemishes, and removed background. Then ran Photoshop Auto levels.
2/ duplicate layer and erased all but the skin, then run surface blur filter.
3/ Duplicated layer again and erased all but eyes, hair, mouth, earrings and eyebrows. Cloned hair from top of head to fill gap under right ear, then increased contrast a little.
4/ Took a photo of the sky, and changed colour to match skin tones etc. Then moved it to the background layer.
5/ Flatten image and resize for entry

Very simple method, as I like to keep it fast n simple :wavey:

Thanks so much Chris for sharing your steps. Hopefully others will follow (hint, hint). ;)

~T