Ok I lied.......Be Harsh this time

[SchlinkyMalinky]

Ok I lied, DnB isn't the 'schnizzle' but it helps!

I've tried quite hard on this one, spent about 40mins on it. I didn't think the original had the feel of direct sunlight so I've tried to bring that out in the picture. Various techniques used, alot of healing a little DnB to even out skin tone, lots of curves and colour mods.

Feels like I'm getting somewhere now so I need to know if i'm not. So bring it on Ant

If anyone has any input good or bad I'd love to hear it

Thanks


http://img19.imagevenue.com/img.php?..._122_675lo.jpg

http://img19.imagevenue.com/img.php?..._122_623lo.jpg

[SchlinkyMalinky]

Anyone? 31 views?

[lurch]

I don't have the eye for retouching that many of the experts have . . . but from a purely amateur viewpoint I'd say you succeeded in bringing out a sunlit feeling. Those shadows on the face (guess they're from a window frame?), however, are really distracting.

[SchlinkyMalinky]

She's a vocalist I use, tracks called 'Trapped' so it's meant to symbolize bars of a cell. Thanks 4 the reply tho

[Swampy]

If Ant doesn't, I will

What are all the streaks and pixelation going on in the areas that I have circled? No woman I know wants additional lines in her face. If it is intentional, then overdo it so there is no question. Otherwise fix it 'cause the rest of the photo is gorgeous.

[SchlinkyMalinky]

Ouch....When I said be harsh I didn't mean........... No I'm kidding, thanks for the reply. I wasn't going for 'Dior' perfection, I think Lynde would get shirty with me if I made her plastic perfect but I see your point, her skin's a little dry, that coupled with what I've done to the picture does accentuate the issue. I guess I could DnB them out (I'm kind of anti blurring at the moment) what do you think? Or what would you do?

[Ant]

.............

[Swampy]

I'd bite the bullet and blur then mask it.

[SchlinkyMalinky]

Swampy, ok will do thanks.

Ant, feels like I'm being told off by my teacher, was almost expecting a 'see me' at the bottom!
Yeah you're right it probably is too sharp overall. But generally the skin isn't hideous right? I agree with your points but don't understand the "open" circles around the eyes and how do I sort out the green/cyan in the hair?
I'm gonna look at the areas you highlighted tho, like those stray hairs, the slight blemish on the lower jaw and my dodgy background masking which I missed on my old crt.
For the stray hairs are we talking healing brush?

[stosh7]

Here's the best glamour retouch workflow I have come across. It gets rid of the "grunge" but keeps the small details to whatever extent you wish. It's not original ... got it froma tutorial on "removing the grunge" or somthing close, but here's the basic flow:

• Duplicate the image
• Zoom in to the offending area, and Gaussian blur until that feature just blurs out - note the radius and cancel the blur.
• High pass filter to the radius noted above.
• Gaussian Blur the HPF image by 1/3 of the radius noted above.
• Invert the HPF image
• Blend HPF layer with Linear Light
• Layer mask the HPF layer - black, removing the effect
• Paint white back to the layer mask in the areas where you wish to remove the "grunge". In your case, the pixillated areas. Use a soft brush at about 50% opacity

The grunge disappears, but the small details like skin pores, hairs, etc., remains.

Here's that workflow applied to your image with HPF radius 2.7 px. and blurred by 0.9 px.

Try it, you'll like it

Nice pic, by the way.

Stosh

P.S. The method above is copyrighted by byRo, a moderator at RetouchPRO. The complete method and explanation may be found at:

http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=213

It works a treat!

[Ant]

yeah, that looks horrible.

Originally Posted by stosh7

Here's the best glamour retouch workflow I have come across. It gets rid of the "grunge" but keeps the small details to whatever extent you wish. It's not original ... got it froma tutorial on "removing the grunge" or somthing close, but here's the basic flow:

• Duplicate the image
• Zoom in to the offending area, and Gaussian blur until that feature just blurs out - note the radius and cancel the blur.
• High pass filter to the radius noted above.
• Gaussian Blur the HPF image by 1/3 of the radius noted above.
• Invert the HPF image
• Blend HPF layer with Linear Light
• Layer mask the HPF layer - black, removing the effect
• Paint white back to the layer mask in the areas where you wish to remove the "grunge". In your case, the pixillated areas. Use a soft brush at about 50% opacity

The grunge disappears, but the small details like skin pores, hairs, etc., remains.

Here's that workflow applied to your image with HPF radius 2.7 px. and blurred by 0.9 px.

Try it, you'll like it

Nice pic, by the way.

Stosh

P.S. The method above is copyrighted by byRo, a moderator at RetouchPRO. The complete method and explanation may be found at:

http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=213

It works a treat!

[Ant]

Originally Posted by SchlinkyMalinky

Swampy, ok will do thanks.

Ant, feels like I'm being told off by my teacher, was almost expecting a 'see me' at the bottom!
Yeah you're right it probably is too sharp overall. But generally the skin isn't hideous right? I agree with your points but don't understand the "open" circles around the eyes and how do I sort out the green/cyan in the hair?
I'm gonna look at the areas you highlighted tho, like those stray hairs, the slight blemish on the lower jaw and my dodgy background masking which I missed on my old crt.
For the stray hairs are we talking healing brush?

No, overall, the skin looks pretty good. It is way oversharpened though. I would open up the eyes (brighten them) so you can see detail and whatnot. they are plugged up. for the hair, pull a curve or whatever works selectively on those areas that it needs correction. The skin may be cleaned up, but the wrinkles under her eye near the nose need to be de-emphasized/simplified/reduced, not pronounced like they are now.

[SchlinkyMalinky]

Right, I'll get on it. I'm getting to the stage now where I wish i had a wacom!

[Syd]

In addition to what Ant and Swampy have said about sharpening, stray hairs, facial lines, eyes, etc I would suggest that you clone out that earring. It is distracting and adds nothing to the idea of 'trapped'.

And speaking of the theme:'trapped' you might want to consider giving it a closer crop with a square aspect ratio so that it gives the feeling of looking out of a cell window.

You might also want to consider pulling a curve to give it a higher contrast which will emphasize the 'sunlight and bars' effect.

Finally you might even want to simplify it one step further and take it to black and white. It fits better with the predicament of 'trapped'.

Sincerely Syd

[Syd]

Ok, very roughly, here's what I mean. I think this way it simplifies everything a lot more and adds to the feeling of 'trapped'.

Syd