Critique appreciated

[Gonzaga]

Hello!

Why constant rain keeps me from hiking in the mountains, I spent some time on retouching some recent shots of mine for a student group. When sitting too long in front of a shot you lose the focus about what's right or wrong, so I'm really interested in your opinions on this one.

Just little healing was used. Main part is D&B.

Thanks in advance ... Andreas.

[0lBaldy]

Personally I like the original skin tones better.. I guess it is all in the look you are going for.
Judging from this small sample it looks as if you have done a good job of what you have done so far and have maintained the integrity of the photo..

It does look to me as there is some spillover from a very low light onto the bottom of the nose that should be removed.. tis very distracting to me..
the eyes and lips should pop a little more by bringing out the highlights
If you want her face that bright then the teeth should lose some yellow/red
the lower eyelids are way overdone.. (they have lost their shape)
I guess you wanted to keep the three moles beside her nose, upper lip and chin because you worked all around them
the smile and upper eyelid lines are still very deep and could be softened a bit
Change the background to anything other than a white...

Just my opinion

[MatthewMarshall]

I don't like the light off of the nose. other then that a nice edit

[TommyO]

Andreas,
I tried to look only at the after shot to judge my overall satisfaction. I agree with Matthew that the light under the nose needs to go. Otherwise, I think it is fine.
When I compare the before with the after, I would agree the skin is now very soft.. especially under the eyes. If it were for a layout, I'd say don't change it. If it were for her personal use, then I'd say her friends/family would hesitate a bit on the softness.
Hope that helps,
Good job !

[Gonzaga]

Thanks a lot for the great advice guys, that was really helpful. I revisited the shot and fixed the following things.

*) Lighting on the nose
*) Whitening the teeth a bit more
*) Stronger and balanced highlights in the eyes
*) Overlayed some of the original wrinkles under the eyes

Cheers ... Andreas.

[0lBaldy]

Andreas, you have a very good technique and control with your retouching, very subtle and refined.. nice work!!

[JD Spears]

Beautiful work! Small nitpic. You may want to do some D&B on the 2 teeth on the her left so the one tooth wouldn't stand out as much. Also, as mentioned we would like to see larger.
JD

[Gonzaga]

Originally Posted by JD Spears

Beautiful work! Small nitpic. You may want to do some D&B on the 2 teeth on the her left so the one tooth wouldn't stand out as much. Also, as mentioned we would like to see larger.
JD

Thanks, JD!

On one point I thought about that tooth but then just forgot it ... thanks for reminding me.

Cheers ... Andreas.

[Live the Lie]

This is just my personal taste. The hair on the top right of the head looks a bit too strait. I would use the liquify tool with very low density and very low pressure to move it slightly. It only needs a very subtle change in the shape. This is only if it suits your style though. Great edit so far.