newbies work :)

[krystel_gotti]

I have just been doing photoshop for about 3 weeks now and thought I would share some of my work, I would like to know what I could do differently to make it better
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z.../practice6.jpg

[0lBaldy]

krystel_gotti, A before and after to compare would be nice to see..

I think you might be making the same mistakes a lot of us did when starting out... being a bit heavy handed and over saturated and applying changes to the entire image instead of focusing on specific areas... the retouch should be much more smooth and even toned in the transitions. The darks seem to be very dark.. to the point where you've lost details in the shadows... Instead of applying changes to the entire image you need to be more selective and try to keep the details she has.. like ther teeth, eyelashes, hair, jeans, etc... What I see here is one giant move of the midtone levels slider toward the dark side... you should now salvage some of the details

To insure threads remains useful in the future, regardless of external links always attach an under 100K version of your picture in the thread, unless prohibited by copyright... If you want to post a larger resolution that is over 100K then you can host your image elsewhere and attach a link in the thread as you did here.

You can post up to 5 fairly large pictures which are under 100k using the 'save for web' function in Photoshop for each of them as described here: Size, Quality and/or Format your Attached Images.. (Click here)

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[Boneappetit]

Originally Posted by krystel_gotti

I have just been doing photoshop for about 3 weeks now and thought I would share some of my work, I would like to know what I could do differently to make it better
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z.../practice6.jpg

Hi Krystel: I did this same portrait a while ago. Same thing happend to me when I started on the D&B technique. In about 2 months I've been practicing and getting help from different sources, specially here in RP, and as the old saying goes, practice makes perfect, because we don't get great results right away using this technique. I still have a lot to learn, and I'm not a Pro at it yet, but I keep learning from the pros, reading and watching the different tutorials concerning this topic. Here is a compressed version of my work with this portrait. Keep it up.

The original portrait comes from Chanel Rene's practice shots.

[wilwells]

My three cents:

1. Skin texture is your friend, it ads humanity and realism. You can smooth skin, but don't go overboard.

2. The skin tone isn't consistent on the various portions of her body, I would do some color correction to even it out.

[Boneappetit]

Originally Posted by wilwells

My three cents:

1. Skin texture is your friend, it ads humanity and realism. You can smooth skin, but don't go overboard.

2. The skin tone isn't consistent on the various portions of her body, I would do some color correction to even it out.

Alright, I understand about the color correction, thats the zone I need to improve. About the texture, I had to smaller the photo so I could upload it here, when you see the original size you can see the texture in context. I'm a rookie at the technique thou... so i keep learning.

In fact, that's one of the problems when you retouch a portrait using D&B and you smaller the photo it never looks like the 100 % size. Check this one out, please click download image for real size.. http://boneappetit.deviantart.com/#/d2wcgwr

[krystel_gotti]

Originally Posted by Boneappetit

Hi Krystel: I did this same portrait a while ago. Same thing happend to me when I started on the D&B technique. In about 2 months I've been practicing and getting help from different sources, specially here in RP, and as the old saying goes, practice makes perfect, because we don't get great results right away using this technique. I still have a lot to learn, and I'm not a Pro at it yet, but I keep learning from the pros, reading and watching the different tutorials concerning this topic. Here is a compressed version of my work with this portrait. Keep it up.

The original portrait comes from Chanel Rene's practice shots.

I have been trying to figure out how to do the dodge and burn for alil while now and for the life of me I am not sure exactly what I am doing wrong I know of 2 different methods, the curve one and then the 2 different layers at 50% gray method, but with both of those the idea is to lighten the darks side of the pixel and darken the light side to give the skin an even believeable finish right? My question is at how small of a level are we talking because I heard that the pro's use a 2 px brush and go over the whole thing at the pixel level, is that true folks?

[Boneappetit]

Hi Krystel: Yes it is true at some point. When you do dodge and burn "almost always" you use a 2 px brush because you never apply the D&B globaly, that's why the technique takes a long time to achieve, you need to examine the work you are doing. Many retouchers create a couple of "help curves" contrast curves that is, like an S curve or a Solid Color white layer (setting the blend mode to color) so you can see the spots better, and know where to apply dodge or burn. My experience is that there is more dodge than burn to do, because almost every portrait have more dark pixels than bright ones.

On the other hand, it doesn't mean that you "have to use a 2 pixel brush always". The rule of thumb is use a brush "smaller" than the spot you are working on. As I mentioned earlier, you don't get great results right away when you use this technique, that's why the technique is the real deal on retouching, because it is all about "details". I wish there was a "shortcut" to apply D&B as I'm sure many other people do, but there isn't.

Hope this help.

[krystel_gotti]

Yes! Thank you very much it does help! I was very confused! I was like "Am I suppose to do this to the whole picture?" Now I at least have some since of direction for this method and I am very pleased to give it another try! Thanks

[Boneappetit]

You are welcome. When I started to do D&B, i went thru the same confusion, because none of the tutorials I read by that time, were specific on the brush size use. I'm glad that I could help you.

Best Regards

[krystel_gotti]

I have been trying to do the dodge and burn on the image in this thread, I am wondering on a average how long does it take to do a image normally?

[Boneappetit]

Well it all depends on the image. When you are new to the technique it can take you 5 or 6 hours and maybe more. Try to select good pictures to retouch, the better the picture the better the results. There are other steps to follow after the D B, like color correction using adjustment layers and sharpen the image, and by the way, you might want to change the eyes color or brighten them, just play around with these... And of course if you can get a tablet you can cut work time maybe to 3 or 4 hours. As you go practicing you get more used to it and you'll find it easier...

I almost forget. 1rst of all, You might want to liquify some parts of the face like the nose or chin, and then clean up the blemishes and blotches using the healing tool before getting into D&B.

Good luck.