To BLUR or not to BLUR

[kevin thompson]

I was told by a "High-end" photographer/retoucher that you NEVER blur an image. It destroys skin texture, smoothes everything out and gives a plastic, not natural look. Making up skin texture is also no good because it does not look like real skin texture.

I was also told that a lot of NYC photographers still shoot film. I am not a camera expert but it seems to me digital cameras give you that smooth look to begin with.

The tutorial for the "Dior Look" is great but it relies heavily on the blur and I am not sure you can use that technique everywhere.

There are ways to do the job without blurring but that is time consuming.

So I am confused and looking for opinions on the use of blurring.

Is it OK to have blurred images with made up skin texture in your portfolio? Or should you keep looking for the best originals to avoid the blur all together?

[Ant]

Don't blur.

High end retouching takes time. High end retouching does not utilize blur.

[edgework]

Originally Posted by kevin thompson

I was told by a "High-end" photographer/retoucher that you NEVER blur an image. It destroys skin texture, smoothes everything out and gives a plastic, not natural look. Making up skin texture is also no good because it does not look like real skin texture.

What you are describing are uses of the blur technique that create a mess. If you try to fix everything by blurring, you'll fix nothing and and everyone will say, "Ah, blurred skin. Never works." As with every technique and tool, the trick is to hide your tracks. If they know you were there, you lose.

There are ways to do the job without blurring but that is time consuming.

I find that a job never consumes any more time than what is required to do it right.

Is it OK to have blurred images with made up skin texture in your portfolio? Or should you keep looking for the best originals to avoid the blur all together?

What you want are the best images you are capable of producing, images that someone can look at and think "I'd like to be able to do that," or better, "I'd like to hire him to do that." If you accomplish this, it's no one's business how you got there, and if you do it consistently, no one will care.

[Ant]

FYI, there is nothing high end about any tutorials here. Do not look to do high end work from things you find on this website or others.

[Benny Profane]

well, that dodge and burn thing floating around is a "high end" technique, but, yeah, not a whole lot else.

Don't blur. Unless it's a special case, and they want some weird look, which I've seen. But, 99% of the time, grab a coffee, put on the headphones, and get to work. You get paid by the hour.

[Sweetlight]

Maybe I am missing something but are we talking "blur" as in the sense of a way of removing blemishes and such or "blur" as in a Hassellblads #3 Soft Focus?

[kevin thompson]

I appreciate your answers. They confirmed what I was told. One ad can take 60+ hours to do with edits and composited elements. That is a different world than what is on this website. Hopefully I can get there someday.

[pixelzombie]

i agree that you shouldn't blur or at least be able to hide your blurring, but as you can see in the link i have posted it does happen and for some very big names..not every project you get your hands on will have a big budget...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45178172@N00/2086220420/

[keiserjohn]

Originally Posted by Ant

FYI, there is nothing high end about any tutorials here. Do not look to do high end work from things you find on this website or others.

I agree with Ant to some extent. The tutorials here are not high end. But still if
you learn them you will get a deeper understanding of how you can use Photoshop to get the effects you wan't.
You don't have to follow them step by step, but more understand the idea behind it all.

You simply have to take the best of each tutuorial. And do it your style.

Look at magazine covers, study the ads. And then try to create the same effect.
And blurring is almost never an option. Dodge n'burn, spot removing. Are things you will come a long way with.

[Markzebra]

... and proper dodge and burn , or L and D as its sometimes called over here is not THAT time consuming when you get good at it, how refined the result depends on how many passes you make.

[kajak]

can someone pls explain the concept of D&B -or post link- the idea of blurring is to make the skin more even how can D&B achieve that?

[JayNads]

Originally Posted by kajak

can someone pls explain the concept of D&B -or post link- the idea of blurring is to make the skin more even how can D&B achieve that?

Blurring also removes all traces of detail. D&B reduces unwanted texture by darkening bright spots and lightening dark spots. A small pimple can be made invisible by darkening the top and brightening the bottom so that the tones are equalized with the surrounding skin.

This is done at huge zoom, pixel by pixel.

[Daviskw]

Hi there

I respectfully differ with some of the posts above....especially that there are no procedures or techniques on this site that would be used in professional work.

Open any magazine and really look at the photos presented. You will find many that could be improved by techniques presented on this site.

The Dior look…or an Illustrated look are just that...LOOKS...and they have their place. It all depends on what you are trying to achieve and why. You will find these looks in all so-called high-end publications.

Often there is no need for some of the retouching techniques because the quality of the work you are starting with does not require it. Then the refining pixel by pixel is the best way to improve a photograph. BUT you can’t always be guaranteed to start with prefect work.

To me… the bottom line… is the artistic talent...the eye for detail… the ability to take what is in our mind and make it a reality that counts. This site will help you towards those goals.

By the way... I have little of the above….lol

Butch

[shellby]

dont blur, dodge and burn or lighten and darken

[cricket1961]

See my post here on this. It should clear up some stuff.

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/blo...confusion.html

Chris