Problem with "grey" in skin

[dragnsteph]

Originally Posted by Juliana Ross

Was this originally a high key image?
I know sometimes when trying to drop the contrast a bit that wierd shadow and surreal highlight thing happens.
Just curious.

Showing my ignorance here, but no idea what a high key image is I was provided tif files, that's the first time i saw these images.

Thanks so much everyone for the help - My boss wants to get more work from this customer, but I'm afraid to encourage her to do so if I can't handle the models :/

-S

[Juliana Ross]

Maybe ask if they have the raw image.

It looks like someone mucked about with it and then handed it off to you.
If that's the case, some info you need may have been wiped out.

You can always tell her you need unmanipulated images to work from in the future.
I work in a lab and sometimes the photographers best intentions get in the way There are a couple who thought they were "making things easier" for the lab. Long story short we asked them to just hand off the images to us and allow us to do the voodoo that we do so well

[venivedi]

Wow, I feel the same way a
s you do, Julian Ross.


p.s. Canon EOS-1Ds daylight.icm works somewhat.

1. Just copy this color profile to
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\color
then open Photoshop~
2. Open the image.
3. Image>Mode>Assign profile : select 'Canon Eos-1Ds
(This step do not change RGB color value but the appearance.)

...After retouch your work

4. Image>Mode>Convert to profile
then select a relevent color profile. If for web, you can select 'sRGB~'.

I hope this to be a little help.
===================================
Here is the sample. I think this can be a good starting point!
1. just assign profile

2. Image>Mode>Match Color : Luminance 125, Intensity 90, Fade 5
(if Photoshop CS)

3. Filters>Sharpen>Unsharpen Mask

4. convert to profile:sRGB)

By the way, I can't attach this color profile (200KB). If you need this I can e-mail you.

[MBChamberlain]

I think I adjusted the levels before I started. Once you have your color layer and your mask created, you can change the color of that layer until you are happy with it. As for the brush it was just a standard white brush. A lot of the toning was done with the selective color adjustment layer.

Michael

[Stroker]

When I look at the image, most of the problem seems to be in saturation and luminosity. To try and fix it, I tried one of my least favorite techniques: Select > Colour Range (I detest Colour Range).

Picked a shade of grey around 50%.
Select > Colour Range around 110.
Used it as a mask.

The first mask I pumped up the Saturation via Hue/Saturation.
Inverted the mask and did some Curves tweakage to lighten.

Not really happy with the Lum, though.
She has that 'beard'.
Not sure how I would tackle the beard.

[venivedi]

MBChamberlain, Thanks for explanation. It helped my understanding.

Stroker, sort of Janus looking figure is easy to understand.
By the way, did you spot that 'beard' (not mustache, not whiskers...?)
I haven't found it yet.

[Stroker]

lol, Ven. I went back and noticed that you said that you don't see the beard. I can see it plain as 5 o'clock shadow. Looks just like you would expect George Michaels or Don Johnson to look after a day or two. Just under the nose and right up under the cheeks to the ears. Subtle, but I can see it very well. Must be a difference in our eyeballs.

I took another quick whack at it. For the mask, I interesected Lum and Sat (because I hate Colour Range). Used that as a mask to pump up Sat. I'm actually kind of pleased with the results.

[venivedi]

[quote=Stroker]lol, Ven. I went back and noticed that you said that you don't see the beard. I can see it plain as 5 o'clock shadow. Looks just like you would expect George Michaels or Don Johnson to look after a day or two. ...QUOTE]

I like the result very much!

Maybe my english comprehension has gotten rusty more.
Do you mean this part?

p.s. If so...I've replaced attachments on my previous post. What do you all think about it? Please let me know.

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Dragnsteph,

On my monitor, your image had a strong blue/red tint which I often see from scanned images.

What I did is sample a mid tone colour from the image. Then take a sample from a skin swatch. Using a curves adj layer, I adjusted the individual R G & B channels to make your image values equal to the swatch values.

Finally I applied a further curves layer to adjust brightness and contrast.

[byRo]

Hi dragnsteph,

A good place to start when analyzing an image is to click through the channels. The Blue and Green channels seem pretty "normal" but the shadow effects can clearly be seen in the Red channel.
- Make a Curve adjustment layer;
- Select the Red channel's curve;
- <ctrl><click>on a "good" part. I used the cheek and got a value of 216. This will mark a point on the curve;
- <ctrl><click> on a "bad" part. I used the neck and got a value of 137. This will mark another point on the curve;
- raise the 'bad" point until the greys have gone (from 137 to 160);
- (personal taste, may not apply to you) put in a Hue/Saturation layer with Hue +4 and Saturation -5.

Hope this helps,
Rô

[Stroker]

Yeah, Ven, that would be the top of the beard. Something about it just doesn't look right and I can't put my finger on it. The laugh lines? Maybe the chin?

Your attachments look fine to me.

[CJ Swartz]

Just a bit to add to the other folks ideas -- I think that a Selective Color adjustment layer set to reduce Black in the Neutrals, and a bit in the Reds works when used in Overlay layer mode at reduced opacity (about 57%). It affects the skin color also, and still would require work.

[venivedi]

Originally Posted by Stroker

Yeah, Ven, that would be the top of the beard. Something about it just doesn't look right and I can't put my finger on it. The laugh lines? Maybe the chin?

Your attachments look fine to me.

I've just called it a day.(?)
Thanks for your feedback.


<monolog> Time to learn about cosmetics? </monolog>

[philbach]

I was using "TIFFANY_after." I copied the background layer in screen blending mode and then copied it again in screen mode. To this second copy I added a black mask and painted it in with a soft brush. I do use a tablet. At any rate I tried it again and I didn't get the exact same result. To the second Layer I added a color balance adjustment layer. Selected Midtones and used 0,-17,and +7. It still isn't right but its seems to be getting close. I've enclosed a screen dump of the last step.

[Flora]

Wow .... great job everybody!!!!

I tried the 'Variations' option...
Inverted Shadows Mask
Selective Colors
Hue&Saturation
Brightness/Contrast

...I tried to achieve the 'translucent glow' that glamour photos often have ...