My 1st Published Retouch XD

[kajak]

Hi every1 i've been a member here for a while now and all this time i've been learning from all you amazing retouchers so i finally decided to post my 1st confident attempt. i'd love to hear your feed back tell me my good points and my mistakes so i can improve in this lovely art.. thankx a looooooot

note: special thankx for the lovely auroraskye for providing us with this beautiful photo

Original Post

[superkoax]

she looks like a doll, no sparkle in her eyes left...everything else looks nice, but the eyes are really destroying it for this picture...

btw, why didn't you put this picture to the original thread?

IT'S SO BORING TO GO TROUGH OLD PICTURES AGAIN AND AGAIN IN NEW THREADS!

[kajak]

thankx SK for your reply but i don't really get what u mean about the eyes.. can u pls show me an example? as for the post. i did link this tread there i just did want 2 change the topic over there XD

[kajak]

hmm 161 viewers and only 1 critic? come on guys where is everybody???? i need ur help

[Gary]

Nice retouch.

I prefer a 'lighter' look so I used masked color dodge and screen duplicate layers to bring out her eye; lightened under her eye to bring out the lashes; edge sharpened a duplicate; added some face color to her neck and shoulder.

[kajak]

hey guys y isn't any1 helping me??

[makespictures]

Um, what do you need help with? We would all retouch the image a different way, depending on the brief.

[edgework]

Originally Posted by kajak

hey guys y isn't any1 helping me??

What is it you want to hear? It's not easy to answer a question like "What did I do wrong?" Wrong, based on what standard? What do you aspire to? You've created an extremely dark image, lost 90% of the detail in her hair, given her lips an artificial sheen and overly smoothed her skin. Is this wrong? Not necessarily. I can think of several stylistic approaches to fashion ads that do similar things. Is yours as good as those? No. Of course not. If it was, you'd know it and wouldn't be asking for feedback.

Here's a good rule of thumb: any technique that can be explained, and reproduced, in five or ten steps isn't going to get the job done, not at the level of professional retouching, which, I assume, given the name of this site, is the standard to which we all aspire. If your goal is to produce professional quality work, you need to start at the top. Look at the kinds of images that you like, that you want to emulate, and compare them to yours and be ruthlessly honest with yourself about where you've come up short. If you're not willing to accurately assess your own work, it makes no difference what anyone else says, and the people who have been doing this long enough that they've learned to edit out those approaches that don't get the job done know this, and that's why you don't get a lot of responses.

Here's a sample of some questions that might get useful replies:

• I seem to have turned her hair into a shapeless blob. What are some ways to produce dramatic shadows, and keep things from turning to mud?

• I want to create smooth skin, but I don't want it to look blurred. How can I do this?

You might well get some direct answers to questions like these. More likely you'll be provided with links to any of the many threads that have dealt in depth with these and other issues. There are lots of forums on the web and lots of information, some good, some not. No less so here. There are frequent posters here who earn their living with Photoshop and if you do your homework, you'll learn who they are. You'll hear lots of opinions about what is good advice and what is bad advice. None of it will be useful to you until you do the work yourself, and start to understand the dimensions of the tasks through experience, rather than reading other peoples' opinions.

I'm not trying to be a snark or anything, but if you want to get good, there's no easy or direct path, and while there are plenty of great teachers, the learning is up to you.

[kajak]

thnkx edgework for ur feedback, though a bit harsh it is.

Originally Posted by edgework

What is it you want to hear? It's not easy to answer a question like "What did I do wrong?" Wrong,

i c ppl do this all the time.. they do a retouch and ask the rest of the forum what they think about it.. what does it need? what isn't accurate.. etc 1 of every 5 posts is smthn similar to what i am asking

Originally Posted by edgework

I'm not trying to be a snark or anything, but if you want to get good, there's no easy or direct path, and while there are plenty of great teachers, the learning is up to you.

not sure y u r saying this as if i just posted a thread "what is the best way to retouch??" :S i did post a sample and this sample come after a lot of reading both of techniques and critiques. as well as a several test photos. the aim of my post was to evaluate how well did i apply what i learned till now and how to improve myself. i'm not expecting any1 to show me how it's done.. just point out how 2 make my next retouch look more professional

[zganie]

hi good attempt for 1st try,but you have to watch you do not loose detail like in the hair also watch skin tones the shoulder is different color than hand and face just keep working at it it will come good luck

zganie

[edgework]

Originally Posted by kajak

thnkx edgework for ur feedback, though a bit harsh it is.

Harsh? Is it? A better question might be "Is it accurate?" Look, it's a harsh business. Photoshop's been around for nearly 30 years. A lot of people use it, and many of those who use it use it well. The competition is fierce. And the standard is high. Here's harsh: you try out at a new shop or studio; you see the kind of work that's being done there, you analyze the files you're picking up to work on, you see that your own work is in line with what's going on. They say "Thanks for coming in," and you never hear a thing again, and you'll never know why. Maybe you really aren't as good as you think, maybe it's any of myriad other possibilities. That's harsh.

i c ppl do this all the time.. they do a retouch and ask the rest of the forum what they think about it.. what does it need? what isn't accurate.. etc 1 of every 5 posts is smthn similar to what i am asking

The post I answered was you asking why no one was responding. Well, I responded, and not only that, I offered some insight into why there might not have been a stampede of posts telling you what you want to hear, which seems to be acknowledgment for all the effort you've put into this, all the things you've read, all the tests you've made. Okay, I acknowledge you, truly; and would only suggest, continue.

not sure y u r saying this as if i just posted a thread "what is the best way to retouch??" :S i did post a sample and this sample come after a lot of reading both of techniques and critiques. as well as a several test photos. the aim of my post was to evaluate how well did i apply what i learned till now and how to improve myself. i'm not expecting any1 to show me how it's done.. just point out how 2 make my next retouch look more professional

I'll repeat the core point of my original reply: you tell us. How well did you apply what you've studied? How willing are you to critique your own work? It's not really productive to tell someone that they either are "GREAT!!!!" or that they suck. If they're great, they know and don't need my input. If they suck and don't know it, they won't believe me if I tell them. Truth is, like most, you fall somewhere in between those poles, and that can be said for your posted effort. It certainly doesn't suck, but it's not great. Superkoax responded right away with some astute points, some of which were complimentary. I offered a couple, and Gary suggested an alternative work flow for what might be a more pleasing result. So what is it you want to hear?

[Ant]

I vote that Edgework write the novel when we turn this site into a book.

[edgework]

Originally Posted by Ant

I vote that Edgework write the novel when we turn this site into a book.

For some reason the phrase "Stranger than Fiction" comes to mind.