Hi all!

I thought I'd post this old retouch I made some time ago and wait for the killing critism :)

Patrick

Hi PatrickB,

I'm new here also and still learning.

I think you did a very nice job at smoothing the skin.

On my monitor the picture is showing very dark with uneven areas of red/magenta although I brought my contrast/brightness up to 100% to compensate for it.

Perhaps softening the hair would finish off the glamour look started with the face.

I'm a newbie, please take my comments lightly. :)

Regards

Hi Patrick, just a few quick impressions.
I have to say that in general I do not like overtouched pictures, so you can keep this in mind when reading my comments.
Firstly, as has already been said, the image has a distinct magenta cast, the skin has been over smoothed and has lost any texture it had, and therefore looks waxy and artificial.
Secondly the skin looks patchy, and there is heavy blurring on the girls ear which is easy to see and very distracting.
Lastly there is a distracting book or video cover in the bottom LH corner of the background that could do with removing.
On the positive side, you have done a nice job on her eyes,

Hi Patrick,

Welcome to RP. While I'm not new here, I am still learning! It looks like you were going after the glamour look, and that's why you smoothed the skin so much. Personally, I agree with Gary. It seems to be overdone. Doing too much is something just about everyone does at some time. Even for a glamour retouch, I think texture needs to be retained or the image appears artificial, as has been pointed out. This does not mean the retouch is "wrong". It only means that *I* would do it differently. If the artificial look is what you were going after, I think you were successful. Only you know what you're trying to accomplish. The other problems have already been mentioned. I lean toward the "Less is more" school of thought. If you want honest critiques, you'll get them here. Then you can consider what's been said, and make up your own mind on how to approach the next one. Most of us find that to be a good way to grow. Stick around. This is a good site.

Ed

The problem Patrick is with the original photo. The lighting is quite horrid, giving her that blotchy magenta look. I would suggest before you do any glamour retouching that you minimize any distracting skin tones. What I've attached isn't close to overall correctness but might give you some idea of what I'm getting at.

Cheers
Dave

Hi Patrick,
Welcome to RP. I to am still learning and have received lots of help here as you will soon learn for yourself. I think you have made a very good start with the photo of the pretty girl. We can make suggestion for you and how we would do things, but it’s what you want and the results you want to achieve that counts.
Like the others who have responded, I to was bothered by the magenta cast and the distracting item in the LH corner, but then again, maybe that is the look you were trying to achieve.
I had a go at your photo and this is what I came up with. Only my opinion and I know its not perfect.
Dave, I’m still doing it by the numbers, but they change by the time I get to the end and are no longer all lined up. But I think Richard said that was ok when I balance out the rest of the photo at the end. Any comment, Dave & Richard.
Vikki if you’re following this, could you send me a comment on it.

W. Rose (Wayne)

Ed, I really appreciated your comment on this one!

The reason I posted this picture was to get some critism, so I'd be one hell of a bad artist not to like the bad ones eh? ;)

This picture was my very first attempt in glamour retouching and looking back at it now it seems quite scaring what I made out of this picture! But reading all your comments made me realize I still tend to fall back to that overdone glamour look from time to time and should spend some thoughts on a careful review of my works.

Thanks to all!

It would be nice to hear back from Patrick to find out if he agrees with the critiques and also perhaps what he was trying to achieve. Glamour Look?
Anyhow, Wayne, I think your skin tones are better. I would prefer a bit more Cyan, but that's just me. Keep in mind, you still have to "think" about your numbers. As the white point you used her eyes and tried to balance everything to about 241. I think that may be slightly bright for eye whites. Actually, the reading I got showed Blue at 242. Eyes are full of blood vessels, visible and less visible so perhaps you should take that into account. Just my 2 cents though.
Here's my effort. I personally have great distain for the glamour look, I like women with skin pores.

Cheers
Dave

It would be nice to hear back from Patrick to find out if he agrees with the critiques and also perhaps what he was trying to achieve. Glamour Look?


Hm, had you read my posting before you wrote this?

Well this pic was retouched some time ago, so what I don't like today is in simple words:

Bad colors (the color cast)
skin is light years overdone
blurred skin and sharpened year should don't fit, hair needs blur and lacks the transition to the skin, now the skin looks like a 2d mask to me
transition hair to black background
hair on top (above the forehead) is too dark
upper lip has that shiny catchlight
ear is too blurred
catchlight in both eyes too small


so that's it for a first look :) And yes, I did want to go for the glamour look!

Patrick

Hi Patrick

Yes, it looks like we posted at the same time. That has always been my biggest problem knowing when to stop mucking around. Anyhow, hope the critiques have been helpful.

Cheers
Dave

I always find airbrushing looks far too fake and obviously altered. In fact the method I use is much easier than airbrushing and gives a more natural look.

The whole thing is done with layers and blending modes.

The first image is just going for the more natural look with a nice warm hue, the second is a more glamourous high tone look.

She's a very pretty young girl and I dont think she should be wearing too much makeup, but thats just a personal preference

If you do like the airbrushed look I would blur that layer a little to smooth it out and lower the opacity so at least some of her skin's natural texture is showing through

Your efforts are pretty good Nancy. The only criticism one might have is that the skin is completley blown out. One section of the cheek was reading 255/255/255 and of course in CMYK, all 0 percent. If you have Katrin Eismann's book on retouching, maybe try her recommended numbers to start.

Cheers
Dave

Thats was just something I put together quickly, I honestly hadnt noticed the pure white patch, I generally work by eye rather than by numbers, I went back to look at the original and the white patch was there too so thats where its been pulled in from, went over it with the healing brush just to take the edge off but didnt darken the overall image, I'm a big fan of 'high tone' photography so I guess thats why I prefer this style to airbrushing.