Aug 07 Contest Discussion

[T Paul]

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

Most members are eager to hear comments/suggestions about their entries, so please take the time to help each other out.

[T Paul]

Sorry for the delay. The contest should be up and running tomorrow evening.

[splata]

This may sound dumb but how do you get rid of the dead pixels? I tried the clone and patch tool but it doesnt seem to work. Any one want to give me a way to do this?
Thanks
Charlie

[Swampy]

Much the same way as in my tutorial - Fix a Blown Out Sky. The principal is the same and that's all the help I'm gonna give you.. LOL

[byRo]

Swampy, I'd hate to see a friend eliminated because of 5 measly pixels.

The rules say exactly 545 x 800 pixels - yours is 540 x 800.

Rô

[splata]

Thanks for the hint swampy I read your post but it just does'nt seem to work for me I still see them. I went ahead and downsized for the web and they went away. I still want to figure out how to get rid of them.
Thanks for the help.
Charlie

[irshgrlkc]

Anyone else think the lady in the picture looks a lot like Jennifer Anniston? Or is it my lack of sleep talking?

[Gary Richardson]

Who's Jennifer Anniston?

[Swampy]

Ro, Thank you for the tip. Chalk it up to being one of those dumb blond's who tends to transpose numbers.

[oltenius]

Originally Posted by Gary Richardson

Who's Jennifer Anniston?

Gary, take a look at http://jenniferaniston.celebden.com/
Dan

[LonK]

Exactly what is the difference between "beauty retouch" and "glamour retouch"? I can't seem to find a definitive answer.

[Swampy]

Lonnie, I think most people think of porcelain skin, built up eyelashes, etc. as "glamor" stuff. I interpreted the instructions literally when they spoke to "natural beauty" so I tried to do just that without going overboard.

[Cassidy]

It is a very fine line swampy

[LonK]

Swampy, "I think", "most people think" is certainly not definitive, but rather emphasizes the ambiguity that I'm questioning. The contest rules state very explicitly, 'this is not a "glamour" retouching contest' and again '* DO NOT turn the image into a glamour shot'. If nobody can provide a definition of the difference between "beauty retouch" and "glamour retouch", the rules are moot. It seems to me that someone must have a specific difference in mind else those "rules" would not have been included.

The only difference I've been able to ascertain from various sources is that glamour may suggest "erotic", which seems irrelevant in this context.

I agree Cassidy. It's a very fine line. One I certainly can't distinguish. That's why I bring it up... and to find out if anyone else is confused.

[Swampy]

Lonnie, I think the part of the rules that says..."so the changes that you make should be more natural and subtle"... was my key to what I expected to do. To "glamorize" would be (according to the dictionary), "make (something) seem glamorous or desirable, esp. spuriously so : the lyrics glamorize drugs." And spuriously being "spurious |ˈspyoŏrēəs| adjective not being what it purports to be; false or fake : separating authentic and spurious claims.

I don't want to belabor the point, but in looking at the numerouse entries to-date, most folks just color corrected and softened her skin.

[Photomaster]

According to Vincent Versace, on the Digital Innovator DVD entitled Photographic Workflow, a properly retouched photograph should show no trace of the work performed. The viewer should get the impression of viewing a pleasing photo that has the elements of clarity, proper lighting, realistic color with normal looking hair and skin texture. The eyes should appear normal and be the central focus of the image.

A glamor photo normally has extreme softening with exaggerated eyes and lips. The photo appears as obviously retouched.

[Gary Richardson]

Originally Posted by oltenius

Gary, take a look at http://jenniferaniston.celebden.com/
Dan

Nah, don't think I'll bother thanks. I know who she is really, I was just being facetious.

But thanks for the thought.

[lurch]

I think my entry went past Photomaster's Versace ideal, but doing it sure was fun. There's a large number of good entries (I'm trying to say they were all good and that there are lots of them). What intrigues me is the latitude available for 'color correction on' an image containing a person you don't know. There are valid interpretations all over the map.

One observation - I'm awfully glad I don't do this for a living - would end up very hungry and sleep-deprived.

<C>

[LonK]

Considering my previous inquiry about the difference between "beauty retouch" and "glamour retouch", I think Ant hit the nail on the head with this statement made in the business forum:

Originally Posted by Ant

... There is no glamour retouching in NY nor other big cities around the world. It's a small town, soft and normal porn, girl on a car calendar, erotic, your mom at Sears thing. There is no real client for glamour retouching. If it's to be a glamor type shoot (very rare, but this term glamour has such a loose definition it seems) then it is done at the shoot, not all in post. This glowing, smoothing thing with tons of makeup like work just isn't out there. Strike "Glamour" from your vocabulary. It's only real usage would be within the discussion of "Boudoir","Cheesy", "Low rent", "Bad Taste","Pageant" "porn", etc.

[Swampy]

I tend to agree with Ant. I think of all the shots I've seen that peple may call "glamor" , but all that high key, plastic skin look could be called "effects" more than "glamor"

[Ant]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glamour_photography

Natalia hangs here too (Godmother) - makes me shiver http://www.glamour1.com

[ScubaMargie]

I've just been looking through the entries and I think this months contest is going to be very hard to vote on. Well done everyone who has entered so far.

[dweekley]

I decided to jump in and post my first challenge attempt. Doing the retouch was fun but I have to say that getting the exact height and width was frustrating. If sharing the technique isn’t against the rules I’d sure love some tips! There are so many great entries, it’s going to be hard to vote. I can see that participating will really push me to try to improve.
Doreen

[Swampy]

Doreen

You can use the "Image Size" dialog box if you use Photoshop to set the pixel dimensions, but you have to turn off the "Constrain" option.

[bella]

No Irshgrlkc, you are not sleep deprived, I thought she resembled Jennifer Anniston too.

[Ms Bay]

Seeing that this question is really getting to a lot of us about this particular entry. I would like to say how I interpreted the rules and what I did.

The rules specifically state that the photo should look natural with subtle changes. So, what I attempted to do was color correct the photo, then "clean" it up and enhance her eyes, hair and lips very little, while leaving the pores of her skin not so "china smooth", but a little more pourous to make her look more natural rather than "make-up made up". I also left her eyebrows as they originally were except for a little darkening, because I considered that a part of the naturalness (is that a word?) of the photo. She is a pretty girl as the picture stands once that was done.

That's how I interpreted the rules. I hope I succeeded in that attempt. Great entries everyone, and good luck!

[dweekley]

Thanks Swampy, I thought taking constrain off would distort a person but I've never tried it so I'll give that a try.
Doreen

[Swampy]

Doreen, it will distort the image, but it's probably the best you can do to get it the exact size required by the contest rules. I was 5 pixels off and got "caught" (thankfully) by Ro. :-)

[Kraellin]

frankly, i lost all concern for the 'natural' vs 'glamour' as i began working. i think she's a natural and adding 'glamour' just seemed wrong.

but i have another question. patrons and moderators are allowed to post 200k images as opposed to the normal 100k. in the normal forums this isnt a concern, but here, in a contest, to keep the playing field equal, it seemed more fair to post at 100k. so, i did. besides, 200k would probably just show my mistakes up even more

[Graphics23]

Originally Posted by Swampy

Doreen, it will distort the image, but it's probably the best you can do to get it the exact size required by the contest rules. I was 5 pixels off and got "caught" (thankfully) by Ro. :-)

All I had to do was open the Image Size dialog and with Constrain Proportions checked simply enter 545 in the Width field, the Height field changed to 800 automatically. No distortion.

ImageSize.jpg

Regards,

Michael