retouch critique

[makeovermagic]

i haven't posted in awhile and would like to get opinions on this retouch
that i did of my friend's beautiful daughter that i plan to use on my website.

the before pic has not been reduced in size at all, that's what it was when i got it. feel free to take a crack at it as well, but please don't use it other than for this site.

[Kraellin]

hi mm,

i like how you lilghtened things up. she doesnt look quite so semi-sinister this way.

two things i notice are a mask mark around the hair and the skin is just a bit over-smooth. not much, just a touch.

overall, it looks very good.

craig

[makeovermagic]

thanks craig, i see the mask that you are talking about -- the original is so dark, that's it's difficult to remove -- i tried somewhat of gradient coloring -- do you think this improved it? i also added some subtle skin texture to make up for over-smoothing.

[Peter S]

Not bad.
Just one thing, the very bright hairs to the right above the ear, keep drawing my attention away from the face. Maybe try cloning them out?

Peter

[Gary Richardson]

Her neck could do with some attention, the lighting and texture are in contrast to the face (particularly the line below her jawline).

Face looks much better now you've added a little texture.

[makeovermagic]

peter and gary, thanks for that -- i was concentrating so much on the face, that i overlooked the hair and neck -- which i have worked on and hopefully fixed.

[PatrickB]

There's too much cyan in her skin. You made her a lot paler and the darker a persons skin, the more cyan in it.

[makeovermagic]

patrick, thanks for the color comment -- i reduced the cyan -- does that look better?

[Kraellin]

i think the last two have gotten worse. the post after my first post seems the best to me, at least in skin color and texture.

craig

[makeovermagic]

Craig, i have to agree with you on the color -- after reducing the cyan, i wasn't crazy about it -- i don't know if it's my monitor, but it looked very unnatural -- the attached is back to prior to the cyan reduction.

thank you.

Marsha

[Kraellin]

marsha,

yup. that looks good. good color, got some texture back, trimmed the errant hair strands a bit. very nice. only thing i still see that bugs me a bit is that the hair edge on the camera right looks like it's been mask trimmed, sort of pushed along into an unnatural edge. other than that, looks great!

and boy, would i love to have everyone's monitor in the same room some time all showing the same picture.

craig

[makeovermagic]

thanks again craig for your time and your good eye for detail -- i masked back in hair detail from the original which had gotten lost somewhere along the line.

[Kraellin]

ok, something going on here that's a bit odd. this last one makes her skin look pale. did you change something there or was i simply fooled before on the skin because of the highlights in the hair? it appears you've lost some red in the skin when you darkened the highlights of the hair. i looked at this and looked at this and had both examples up and was just flipping back and forth trying to see if this was an illusion or actual. it seems to be mostly actual with a touch of illusion perhaps. what did you do to the skin in this last one?

craig

[berko1021]

I opened her picture right eye a bit. I felt she looked a little too sleepy. I don't know if thats the case because nobody else noticed it, but thats the first thing I saw.

[PatrickB]

Since I caused all this cyan-confusion

The darker a skin becomes, the more cyan AND black it has. Hence reducing the cyan results in some paler skin unless you add black to compensate. The changes are very small, so overdoing is easy.

Another thing: The light parts of the skin consist of more yellow than red, you should not forget to adjust the yellows as well

[makeovermagic]

craig -- i think i attached the wrong version -- i have too many versions now of this photo, and i uploaded the wrong one.

berko1021 -- i was thinking of enlarging her eye and forgot to do it -- thanks -- it does look better.

patrick -- i'm gonna get my pre-cyan version back and do what you suggested -- if it looks good, i'll post that version.

i've been out all day and haven't had time to work on this but will shortly.

thanks all.

marsha

[makeovermagic]

craig, i worked from the version you commented on and have done somewhat of a combination of everyone's comments and think the image is improved.

thanks again!

[Swampy]

Over all very good, but my eye is caught by the blue cast in the hair line near her ear. Otherwise, great job.

[makeovermagic]

thanks swampy, my screen doesn't necessarily show a green cast, but i do see off coloring in that area, and i think i fixed it.

thanks for your time,

marsha

[Racc Iria]

Originally Posted by makeovermagic

thanks swampy, my screen doesn't necessarily show a green cast, but i do see off coloring in that area, and i think i fixed it

Not quite. Now it's yellow.

It's a great photo, though. I think you're getting closer with each attempt.

[Swampy]

In addition to the area above her ear that you gave a yellow tinge to. Here's the area that I was talking about. Some of this is a strange bluish gray banding area right through her ear.

[makeovermagic]

thanks for your comments racc and swampy -- now i'm stuck -- i now exactly what you mean -- her ear/hairline is a horrible color, but because the original was so dark in that area, i am having problems trying to get it to look a natural color -- help?!?!?!?

marsha

[makeovermagic]

okay, i attempted to fix her ear/hairline -- not sure if it's better, but i don't think it's any worse. what do you think? any suggestions?

thanks,

marsha

[Kraellin]

mm,

this is fascinating watching all the posts and corrections. yes, i think you may have posted the wrong pic before. post #95 looks good now (well, except you've got others now pointing out things ).

i missed the ear thing so i'll just let the others take this from here. the last one looks pretty good. ear is a little fuzzy/blurry now but at least i think you got the discoloration

i admire your persistence.

craig

[makeovermagic]

thanks craig, my persistence - ugh - lol -- gotta get it right, if it kills me

i cloned another ear of the same girl from another picture i have of her - does it blend well? is this the better way to go -- or try to fix existing ear?

marsha

[Swampy]

Much better Marsha. I think that's a wrap. LOL

[Kraellin]

marsha,

i'm afraid my computer died on me and i'm on a backup computer right now. the monitor isnt nearly as good as the other one and it's never been calibrated either so it wouldnt really be fair to try to assess the overall on this one.

the ear does look better, however. she looks paler on this computer but i think that's my gamma setting being off on this system. like i say, it's never been calibrated and the monitor itself is a cheapy. it's sort of an interesting testimony to the vagaries between all of our systems and how easily one person can see something that looks right while another sees something completely different and shld serve as a bit of an advice to all regarding the differences in monitors.

so, based on i liked how the overall looked prior to my computer dying and the improved ear, which i can see on this monitor, i'd agree with swampy; job well DONE

craig

[makeovermagic]

palms and craig -- thank you so much for your time and kind words. yes, i am done with this photo - time to move on - lol.

craig, my computer died on me not too long ago so i know the feeling -- not a good one.

marsha

[Kraellin]

marsha,

yes, dead pc's make it hard to retouch. the new system is starting to come together but still lots of bugs. if you know anyone with an iq around 150 that fixes, builds or even destroys pc's, let me know

and nice job on finishing the pic

craig

[makeovermagic]

Originally Posted by Kraellin

and nice job on finishing the pic

craig, how sweet, thank you.

my hard drive went on my computer and having never done a backup, i lost everything -- had to start from scratch -- that was fun (NOT!!) -- you would think that i would have learned, but i have still yet to back up my new computer -- with my thought being that "it's new, nothing's gonna go wrong"

good luck with your new system.

marsha