Dealing with skin blemishes

[byRo]

Dreamypix, that is a great description of the technique - thank you so much! I think this post wil become a reference from now on!
(and I'm sure Doug will be around soon bugging you to write this up in a tutorial! )

Well after the skin treatment has been so well executed, I'd like to add some "other" comments.
1) Seems that hardly anyone worried about the photo being all skewed. Maybe it's just me but I find it pretty distracting when "verticals" aren't vertical.
2) There is a strong yellow light coming from above which doesn't seem to add anything to the photo.

Here's an effort without any special skin treatment:
- JPeg removal;
- Double size;
- Straightened;
- Cropped (nice backround, but too distracting);
- Local contrast ("Rounding");
- Colour declipping (repainted just about everything to get rid of skin blotches and yellow light - well, except the books);
- Made roses more colourful;
- General brightness / contrast / levels / hue adjustments.

Rô

[Dreamypix]

Thanks Ro for the kind words! I just got through with my first tutorial today. And no, it wasn't for this! I'm not sure I could do a tutorial on this since it's the same technique from Katrins book. But check out the tut I did on metal like skin. To me it looks more slimy than metal, but I have been staring at this screen all day! Sooo maybe a break will make it look better. Going to bed now...Again thanks for the kind words!

~Amber~

[Gary Richardson]

Don't usually do this sort of image, but thought I'd have a play with it.

[Klaatu Baradda]

Greetings Retouchers,
This is our first post here but we have been observing for a few months. We completely agree with what Ro has mentioned about this image concerning the lens distortion that skewed the background. It may seem minor but it will create a distraction to the viewer that will hit them almost subliminally as "something being wrong."

We would like to add that the excessive noisiness of this photo only contributes to the problems seen with the irregularities in her skin. Using a Noise Reduction plugin such as Noise Ninja, Neat Image or others BEFORE trying to correct the skin helps a lot.

Like Bujo, we also prefer the Patch Tool for skin blemishes. It's wonderfully fast (once you get used to it) and keeps the skin texture intact. Of all the methods, this one makes skin look the most true to life (very nice when you DON'T want it to look 'shopped).

We actually like the yellow light from above and thought it added an angelic feeling to the shot (especially how it hits her hair and shoulder), but that's just a matter of taste.

Blurring the background a little helps to give it that short DoF that photographers love as well as focuses on the subject more while pushing some of that lens distortion out of view. A little tonal vignetting can also add to the drama of the shot and pull you into the subject.

[Nanls]

Use Gaussian Blur until the skin doesn't look blotchie. Go back one step and use the history brush and set the mode to lighten this will clean up the dark spots do the same with the mode set to darken to clean up light spots. If the subject looks to "painted" start again using less of a blur! Thats it.

[jasosmith]

Amber - you also did a great job emoving the mouth braces and enhancing the teeth. I have tried the Patch / Healing brush tool but found it difficult to get a natural looking result once the teeth are whitened- any Tips ?

Ro - I agree with you on the background and would have used the crop/perspective tool to bring the bookshelf into alignement with the verticals.

I find the orange colour cast a little off putting also. In this situation I normally take shots with and without flash. In this case the client picked the photograph taken without flash which is less sharp and has the orange cast.

[jasosmith]

A great range of different techniques here guys - thanks. The greatest difficulty seems to be getting a natural result on the face without looking like the photo has been manipulated.

I will work on this one over the weekend. Cheers

[Dreamypix]

For the teeth, I sampled a spot from her teeth without the braces and painted with a small soft brush at a low opacity and just built up. But the color sample will not be a white if I remember right. And if you paint just white it won't look right, so that is why I sampled. If I remember right, I think Flora also took out her braces as well. She may have a better technique than that! But that's it!

~Amber~