Better?

[Pvt.Weed]

She's here.

[Robt]

I don't know. Different yes.

While I like the removal of the batten(s) sticking from her head, the lightening [fill flash] seems in these <100k shots to have blown out the teeth and shot the detail of the hair. This young woman has increditable eyes, glad you brought them out. Only an uninformed opinion but I wouldn't have "improved' her complexion as much. To me She is quite pretty as a teen, why can't she have a few skin blemishes like freckles?

I have to respect the folks out here that make thier living taking and selling portraits. How do they "know" what will please the client?

Robert Collins

[Duv]

It's over exposed. Move your levels shadow slider to the right.

Cheers
Dave

[Vikki]

You probably didn't, but it looks like you've used the red channel for luminosity, which I think is causing a loss in detail. I don't really notice a retouch of blemishes, but I do notice a difference in skin and eye color. The skin looks very pink, and the eyes too colorful (just my take). I fiddled around with the original image, and came up with this.

[Duv]

By the numbers, Vikki is just about bang on (maybe bang on givin different cals). I still find the lighting a little flat. Maybe needs to add an extra 1/2 to 1 stop on the shadow side. Probably just my own preference.

Cheers
Dave

[W. Rose]

Very well done Vikki, i really like what you have done with the picture. I am going to try your technique now.
Wayne

[W. Rose]

Well Vikki i guess i was going to do it, but i see you didn't leave and instructions on how you did it.

[Pvt.Weed]

Thank you Vikki. Please tell us your technique.

[Vikki]

Sorry about not providing any instructions. I don't have a "regular" formula, or workflow, so it's kind of hard to document what I do. I sort of play around with this, tweak that, until I get the results I want. If you were watching me, you'd be seasick.
After the fact, I can't give the step-by-step, but I can say that the majority of the corrections were done with levels and selective color, adjustment layers. I did some dodging on her pupils to give them definition, and I darkened her lips, for the same reason.
Whenever I think about adjusting a photo with skin tones, that's what I concentrate on first. I've got a little trick I use to help me "see" if the skin tones look right. What I do is add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer over the main image, and reduce the saturation until the image appears to be grayscale. I then paint on the attached layer mask to reveal just the skin area. This allows me to see the skin tones without the distraction of other colors in the image. It's an excellent way to "see" color casts and problems. Now that I see what's wrong, I can add adjustment layers or tweak the underlying image layer until the skin tones look good.
Here's what it looks like: (this is an slow animation, so give it a minute to change)

[Pvt.Weed]

Thats a cool tip. Thank you VeryVery much Vikki.

[Ed_L]

That one belongs in the tip section Vikki. Thanks very much. It really works!

Ed

[W. Rose]

Thanks Vikki, I'm going to give it a try right now. Sounds like something i can use to improve myself.

[W. Rose]

I tried it and it works great, thank you so very much Vikki. Sending you an attachment for you to check my work per your instructions.

[Vikki]

Wayne, the coloring is much better, however......
I hope you don't mind a critique, as I must comment on the photo in general.
Your retouched image has a strange look. It actually looks like you used the red channel, converted it to grayscale, and colored the image. There is a muddiness about the image. If you compare the two below, you'll see the one on the right has more definition and the coloring is more natural. To my eyes, the image quality itself looks better. Of course this is just my opinion, and we all see things differently. And just another personal preference...I'm not sure the bright cyan background and highlight to her dress is the most flattering color. (I could be biased about this though, as I almost hate that color)
I'm curious about your thoughts on this, and also, what methods did you use to achieve your results?

[W. Rose]

Vikki,
I don't mind at all about your critique of my photo, in fact i welcome it. I thought i had followed your instructions carefully but as i was preceding i did lose track of some of the things i was doing. I will do it over and see what i come up with. With the photos sitting side by side i can see where yours is so much of an improvement over mine, as mine does look muddy. This time also i will keep track of what steps i'm am taking and not wonder off.
And again Vikki thank you so very much for taking your time with me, I am a newbe with this and hope to become more efficient in time.
My wife, sister-in-law, and i were in your town a couple of years ago while taking a vacation, (we live in Ca.). Stayed in Buffalo and rented a car and drove over to Nigerra Falls for a day, what a beautiful place.
Also visited you site and loved your pictures.
And now back to more practice on the photo.
Wayne