[zogdart]

Here is a test i did.

I was thinking on changing the color of the boot's to black, and i have a hard time keeping it real.

I have included the before and after of where i'm at the moment. (Sorry i had to erase her face, but i still need a model release from this shoot)

I still need to work on the legs, the shadow of the boot's, some liquify and the color of those boot's!!!

I realy don't like the color, any idea's ?

[Peter S]

Here's a quick effort from me, using a gradient map AL on a duped layer and masking out whats not needed.
Masking here not perfect, hope it helps.

Peter

[mac monkey]

Here is a quick try using a mixture of hue/sat, channel mixer, brightness/contrast and solid black on a soft light layer. Masking is a bit iffy though, sorry.

[mistermonday]

You can also just duplicate the layer and invert it, do a levels adj to adjust the level of black that you want, add a layer mask(Hide All - black) and paint over the boot with a white brush.
Regards, Murray

[0lBaldy]

filter>artistic>Plastic wrap.. faded with hard light selected.. then curves some

[zogdart]

So far i think Macmonkey as the better result.

Good sugestion for the soft light layer, here is my new take on it.

It still look's off!

[pixelzombie]

are they supposed to match the skirt?...they now have a suede look instead of looking like leather...

[mac monkey]

Ok here's a bit more in the H/L's. if we are to make them look leather, then this is going to take a little more work.

[zogdart]

No there not supposed to match the skirt. any ideas to keep it more real....like leather!

[mac monkey]

To make these look leather we need to enhance the H/L's but at the same time maintain some kind of softness to them. Here is my rough example, as you can see you will have to spend a bit more time than I did .

50% grey layer set on soft light, manually brushed in H/L's

[yelhsaneerg]

i like where OLBaldy was going with his version, although maybe a little less contrast, and a little less plastic looking.

[zogdart]

Interesting mac monkey,

When you say H/L's i'm gessing it's hard light for the brush mode? What softness and opacity do you use for your brush? White for the color?

[mac monkey]

Morning Zogdart,

H/L's = Highlights.

I used a brush opacity of 20, but as you can see I brushed them in very quickly. I would recommend a lower opacity though (maybe around 5) so you can shape them to be a little more realistic.

[edgework]

I found I had better luck by sneaking up on it in increments, rather than trying to get everything done with one adjustment layer. Used two gradient maps, a shadow/hilight layer, a curve layer, another shadow/highlight layer, some minimal dodging and a final curve. Not perfect, but the shape and the highlight/shadow relationship is maintained.

http://edgework.tripod.com/samples/blackboots.jpg

[skydog]

All the effects look interesting, but none look "real"...they appear artsy and, to me, don't fit the realness of the photo. Appears to be a nice retouch challenge. I tried as well, and did no better. I have black boots, but they don't look like "real" black boots that the model would wear.