First major retouch.. Comments please

[Cryspatus]

I actually found the before photo on this forum on someone else's before and after. I wanted to try my hand at it. I started photo shopping this week. I appreciate any comments or criticism. Thanks

http://i35.tinypic.com/14y9zyf.jpg

[DannyRaphael]

Welcome to the RP forums.

This is your FIRST attempt? Wow... VERY impressive. You have a bright future ahead of you.

Continued success.

[kilty560]

Nicely done !

[ashphotoart]

Really good job, but I have doubt that this is your first attempt.

Ash

[Cryspatus]

Thanks for the comments This is my first retouch. I've changed the lighting on my own pictures before, but I don't have acne or anything so this is the first time I really retouched a picture instead of just the contrast/brightness. I chose this picture because the acne seemed like a challenge. If there's anything wrong with the retouch I would like to know. I want to improve my skill and see how far I can take it. Thanks

[Insensitive.]

Alot of people have been playing with this photo lately but for some reason i never like the out come. I dont like the photo itself to begin with. I cant exactly say what i think about yours because it looks like everyone elses who has taken a try. But its nice.

[Cryspatus]

Originally Posted by Insensitive.

Alot of people have been playing with this photo lately but for some reason i never like the out come. I dont like the photo itself to begin with. I cant exactly say what i think about yours because it looks like everyone elses who has taken a try. But its nice.

Not to toot my own horn but many of them used a surface blur, whereas I only used the clone stamp. I think mine is the only one where I can see real skin texture. The only problem is near the sides of the mouth it gets slightly blurry. I think I need to work on that. Thanks for the comment

[secretsquirrel]

Very nice.

Small issues.

I would clean up the fly away hairs around the the outer crown. They're not significant, but they take from the overall look. Mute the veins in the whites of her eyes and subdue the texture above her eyes. You may want to brighten the eye color very slightly to help the them pop.

Overall, a beautiful mood piece.

Secretsquirrel

[Cryspatus]

Originally Posted by secretsquirrel

Very nice.

Small issues.

I would clean up the fly away hairs around the the outer crown. They're not significant, but they take from the overall look. Mute the veins in the whites of her eyes and subdue the texture above her eyes. You may want to brighten the eye color very slightly to help the them pop.

Overall, a beautiful mood piece.

Secretsquirrel

Thanks for your critique. I did everything you said and it looks a lot more polished. I also removed some of the darker skin around her mouth with d&b. Here it is now:

http://i37.tinypic.com/x5vxh3.jpg

[freeski99]

nice job with the small updates. they definitely finish the image up nicely.

[secretsquirrel]

Even nicer.

If this is your first beauty shot you have a lot of natural talent.

You may want to soften the light/dark transitions over the left eye.

Beyond that I think any changes would be subjective.

Great job!

Secretsquirrel

[Mchilly]

It's okay, nicely done but it's not that impressive no offense

[taymarfoto]

I had a little play but cheated using imagenomic portrait plugin then added a little gaussian blur, then I replaced the sharp eyes and hair from the original

[thepcmouse]

I lost track here on which post I clicked on. Sorry. So overall I think this is a super good retouch. Cryspatus on the final photo did an outstanding job. Hard to believe this is a first time retouch. Not disputing it though. I hope this model has changed her diet and found a good skin doctor. I like that the skin is not blurred out and has good texture. I like that it is still realistic looking. In a general way I don't like the picture at all so the final product has made a poor picture into something great.