critique me!

[PsYcHoPaTh]

can you tell me the good and the bad and how to change it? the images are originally jpeg so as far as the noisy quality goes there is not much more I can do that won't kill detail..


thanks for looking!

www.behance.net/brandonmccann

[Boneappetit]

Hi:

The photos look like you used blur to retouch them, when you use blur to retouch skin, you kill the texture, and the result is so not natural, looking fake... The correct way of retouching is called Dodge and Burn technique (which is a very time consuming technique, it also takes a while to learn), along with Spatial Frequency Separation technique, among some others. Here is a quick trick to retouch skin without loosing texture... This is not as good as D&B but a lot quicker and easier. (Scroll page down to see the quick method)... http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=213

[PsYcHoPaTh]

i used a frequency separation with a 26% opacity on the high pass filter and then i painted back in some of the texture. perhaps i should paint in more?

[Boneappetit]

Originally Posted by PsYcHoPaTh

i used a frequency separation with a 26% opacity on the high pass filter and then i painted back in some of the texture. perhaps i should paint in more?

The Spatial Freq Separation should be done via apply image instead of HP filter.
But, you should check the degrunge technique and see what happens...

[PsYcHoPaTh]

ill try the degrunge and im looking for a neat tutorial on the D&B technique but i didnt use the actual high pass filter, i used the apply image like you said. apply image-lowpass-2 and 128-subtract-and then a layer mode of linear light. or at least, that's the way I was taught it o.O

[Boneappetit]

Originally Posted by PsYcHoPaTh

ill try the degrunge and im looking for a neat tutorial on the D&B technique but i didnt use the actual high pass filter, i used the apply image like you said. apply image-lowpass-2 and 128-subtract-and then a layer mode of linear light. or at least, that's the way I was taught it o.O

Good. But the spatial frequency separation by itself it is kind of incomplete, if you don't do Dodge and burn, sharpening, color adjustments etc... In a while I'll give you a nice D&B tutorial...

[PsYcHoPaTh]

alright i look forward to learning this

[Boneappetit]

Here is a nice tutorial on D&B.. http://digital-makeups.deviantart.co...03123#/d26a2h2

An easier way to dodge and burn,instead of 2 separate curves is:
Create a blank layer after the SFS, Fill it with 50% Gray, and change the blending mode to Soft Light.
Then with a small brush (like 2 pixels) and low opacity could be between 2 - 40, depending on what part you are trying to D&B, You can use a hardness of 50% or maybe 33%. Paint with white for dodging and black for burning.

[PsYcHoPaTh]

i learn things a little differently but let me make sure i have this right.

Dodge and burn does not replace texture, it merely changes shading and since pictures are 2 dimensional, changing shading would eliminate a bump, so to speak. now as for the steps its


frequency separation
a blank layer filled with 50 gray and a blending mode of softlight
and with a small brush, rather soft, low opacity, change the shading of the off colored areas to retouch the photo? I explain things bad too so it may be a little difficult to understand what i mean. Also, why separate the frequencies? if I am going to use dodge and burn? Just use the dodge and burn on the skin and such and use the high and low pass's on the remaining parts like hair, background etc? I'm confused as to the purpose of separating the frequencies for the dodge and burn technique.

thanks

[Boneappetit]

I don't know how to explain it very well, but when you separate your image in two different spatial frequencies you have control over color, and texture independently, and for retouching there is nothing that could beat that... The 50% gray fill layer in Soft Light mode is like having the dark and light curves in one place, so you don't have to go back and forth during your dodging and burning, but when using curves you have more flexibility and alternatives...
Take a look at this thread, where some experienced retouchers explain in depth about SFS...
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/pho...all-speak.html

Note: If you use this method, just click the X key to switch between black and white...

[PsYcHoPaTh]

so on an image i should typically have 4 layers? the background, low, high, and then the D and B layer? Also, where does it go? does it go on top of the high pass or under it or ?

[Boneappetit]

Well, not exactly, that's just for the SFS, and dodge and burn work process. A complete retouch includes some other things, (here, every retoucher has its own method). Techniques could include: Liquify, Layer masks, smudge, Color adjustments, Selective colors, Sharpening, Contrast curves, color correction etc... The target is to take care of each and every detail of your image and make it look great, but looking natural still, in other words, not over done. Nothing is done global, and you need to work in a non-destructive way, in case you note at some point that you went to far, there's no need to go back and start all over.

Of all these techniques Dodge and Burn could be the most time consuming. Just take it one step at a time, try to learn the basics for D&B and then climb another step.. You won't get results immediately, it takes some time to learn and apply it... If you are planning to do this, my advice to you is get a tablet, it will make your life a lot easier.

PS. First you do the SFS work and then the D&B.. When you are done with D&B, then you do the Contrast, color correction, sharpening etc...

[PsYcHoPaTh]

Ah okay. That makes a little more sense now. And i would'nt even TRY doing this without a tablet lol. I bought one.....4 weeks ago.

upon experimenting, i came up with a question. for skin, this will work greatttt. BUT! what about hair on skin? like if the model has a few strands of hair on her skin(deep black in color) with nearly 40% opacity and 40% hard it'll dodge up, but not enough to get rid of the hair. In a situation like this, would i have to clone it away?

[Siciliana]

One more little tip I learned from recent retouchpro video is to sample a light color from the skin tone and then lighten/desaturate it a bit for the highlights on your D&B layer, and to sample a dark color and darken/saturate it a bit for the shadows. (I think that's how he did it) Save the swatches so you can go back to them if needed. You can paint this onto your neutral gray soft light for purer D&B without the desaturation that can happen when you paint with black and white.

[PsYcHoPaTh]

ah! thats a nice little idea. thanks

[Siciliana]

I would clone out hair . Even if you were able to lighten it by dodging, you still need the skin texture and skin color in the area where the hair was, so dodging is not an appropriate technique for stray hairs. Try not to clone any more than you need to. You can experiment with different blend modes of the clone tool if that helps.

[Boneappetit]

Originally Posted by PsYcHoPaTh

so on an image i should typically have 4 layers? the background, low, high, and then the D and B layer? Also, where does it go? does it go on top of the high pass or under it or ?

Sorry, I didn't exactly answered this question before... although you need some other techniques for a pro-retouch, this is a very good practice base set for starters...

The purpose of D&B is basically, to even out the light and dark parts of the skin, so it won't look blotchy or with large differences. In this context the transitions should look very soft. Many pro-retouchers use a second and even a third D&B layer to do the carving, using these extra layers for highlights and shadows. For example add the effect of blush, or tune cheek bones, or create the illusion of a smaller forehead and so on...