Hey - so here is a picture of me, self taken. I have included the before image and the after image (a bit of airbrushing and lighting change) I am quite happy with the overall look ......

BUT

I am wondering if anyone has any inspiration to make a piece of art out of the after pic! Something crazy, slick, dimensional or interesting!!!

I've lost my inspiration!

???

James

Fun with filters.

Something crazy, slick, dimensional or interesting!!!

Kind of a subjective request, but here ya go, James.

Very nice shot, James. I like the perspective. Here's another look for you...

Retouch really grinds up the contrast on these small shots, so here's the link to a larger version:

http://www.pbase.com/pam_r/image/80971674

just triing to inspire You

saby

just fooling around

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/1198/jameshp6.jpg

Pam, that is so great. I love what you did.

that looks awesome PAM...and James....i thought the original was very nice too.....hope u find what ur lookin' for
ash

I like what you did there Pam.

An attempt to cure digital artists block.

Peter

Wow - some great stuff!! Inspiring!!!!

Pam - yours is really great, how did you achieve that?

Rythmique - thats exactly the sort of thing I was thinking of, subtle changes! How did you do that? Stunning!

Pelle, Yelhsaneerg and Ant -
Thank you for the kind words, it means a lot to get feedback, particularly of the complimentary type! Especially to Pelle, only because I know his great Photoshop work : )

Hi James,
I'm glad you liked it : ) These were my major steps:
- Used curves and levels to increase contrast, brighten it and warm up the colors.
- Added some Diffuse glow to blow out and at the same time, soften the highlights.
- Added a texture on top, played around with blend modes and opacity.

If you want to experiment with textures, here are a couple of good resources:

Mayang's textures:
http://mayang.com/textures/

Image After:
http://www.imageafter.com/textures.php

Texture Warehouse:
http://www.texturewarehouse.com/gallery/index.php

Thanks Pam

Testures definitely make a whole lot of difference and I'm not too experienced with them yet, so will look at those links!
I feel quite confident with me actual retouching skills, in the sense of smoothing out the skin and getting that flawless look - but just need to start throwing some creativity around!!

Heres my try never worked with textures before thanks pam, what do you think?

www.myspace.com/kissofglamour

Emily thats so good!!! Another one of my favourites! What did you do to my eyes too? I feel I may have them changed to that color ;-)

Emily, that's it! It looks great. Textures are tons of fun to work with...you're going to come up with all kinds of reasons to use them. Keep experimenting!

um that one was linear dodge i believe...thanks, yea i do liek texture now thanks again pam...oh how did you get the outside edges to look burnt??

Emily,

I used the burn tool around the edges to darken. I set it to Shadows and used a low opacity. Another method is to open a new empty layer set to overlay or soft light on top and use a black brush at low opacity around the edges. Use a white brush to lighten.

You could also make a selection just inside the edges using the rectangular marquee tool, invert the selection (Ctrl + I), feather it, then use curves or levels to darken. This gives a different result than the burning I described above. Use whichever you think looks good.

heres my try, was fun to do :)
one with light flare one without.

Nice, Imko (and welcome). Oh... the 2nd. Lens flare is just a gimmick. Use it VERY sparingly, if at all. Certainly not in this case.

Cool, I like both with and without the lens flare! How did you get such a smooth line when selecting around me for the new background?
Thats always my issue ... it comes out all jaggedy!

Nice, Imko (and welcome). Oh... the 2nd. Lens flare is just a gimmick. Use it VERY sparingly, if at all. Certainly not in this case.

Thanks (also for the welcome and the tip about the lens flare), I will keep that in mind for the next time I'll use a lens flare effect.

Cool, I like both with and without the lens flare! How did you get such a smooth line when selecting around me for the new background?
Thats always my issue ... it comes out all jaggedy!

Glad you like them. I use a layer mask, with the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) i delete what i don't want (the background), since you don't want it to come out jaggedy you'd have to 'click a lot' (dont know how to explain it else) so it won't come out jaggedy but smooth.

Of course you can also choose to use the Magnetic Lasso Tool, it depends on what you prefer.

Glad you like them. I use a layer mask, with the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) i delete what i don't want (the background), since you don't want it to come out jaggedy you'd have to 'click a lot' (dont know how to explain it else) so it won't come out jaggedy but smooth.

Of course you can also choose to use the Magnetic Lasso Tool, it depends on what you prefer.

Or use the pen tool. It's the best selection tool there is in Photoshop for smooth edges.

Or use the pen tool. It's the best selection tool there is in Photoshop for smooth edges.

oh i had no idea that you could also make selections with the pen tool. i work with the pen tool when making vectors in illustrator but had no idea you could make selections with it in adobe.

This one is way far out!

Oh I like it - I feel like Superman ;-)

The Euro look.

Wow Pam, that's insanity work right there. You're probably the best re-toucher I've seen on this wonderful forum. That is TRULY inspiring me! How long have you been re-touching for?

here is my try guys.i like your work pam,a couple of pictures in your portofolio are really good.great color control