Product retouching critique

[shumski]

Hi

let me know your thoughts about this image:
http://euphoria-imaging.com/portfolio/sample15.html


Thanks,
Yahor

[djslyda]

good job, nice portfolio too!

[SteveB2005]

Yep, that's definitely the look to go after, especially product images going to press. Want to explain your workflow a bit so others could get an idea on what direction to take, working on good product shots?

[shumski]

Originally Posted by SteveB2005

Yep, that's definitely the look to go after, especially product images going to press. Want to explain your workflow a bit so others could get an idea on what direction to take, working on good product shots?

Yep. First of all I made sure the product is symmetrical. symmetry is the cause of beauty
Next I applied blur similar to skin smoothing to eliminate noise and imperfections. Add dodge&burn, shadow, reflection... and here you are.

I'm a newbie in a product retouching but it seems very similar to fashion retouching.

[shumski]

By the way, it's just a sample not a real work. I downloaded the image from sxc.hu photo stock. Hi-res images are free there.

[SteveB2005]

So there are hi-rez images available to practice on? Good advice, I'd like to see more product/jewelry retouching here. Most retouchers deal with fashion/beauty, but there are a lot of cosmetic ads out there that present products that are looking real slick and need to be retouched before they are printed

steve

[skauskas]

Originally Posted by shumski

By the way, it's just a sample not a real work. I downloaded the image from sxc.hu photo stock. Hi-res images are free there.

I've just read their Terms of use (I need photos for my potfolio as well) and they say (despite what they wrote on the main page)
All images and their descriptions and presentation in general ("Images") on the Website are the property of either SXC and/or its members and are protected by international copyright laws. Use of these Images without license is prohibited.
And they require a lot of info for registration like post addres, name of the street.. may be I'm too paranoiac))) just don't want to brake any law
what do u think?

[shumski]

Originally Posted by skauskas

I've just read their Terms of use (I need photos for my potfolio as well) and they say (despite what they wrote on the main page)
All images and their descriptions and presentation in general ("Images") on the Website are the property of either SXC and/or its members and are protected by international copyright laws. Use of these Images without license is prohibited.
And they require a lot of info for registration like post addres, name of the street.. may be I'm too paranoiac))) just don't want to brake any law
what do u think?

You can use the images for non-commercial use.

[SteveB2005]

I read the user's agreement from the site and it states images can be used for promotional purposes as well as other usage. There are some nice images for practicing retouching skills with.

steve

[shumski]

So the website can be a good source of images for training

[BagLady]

Very nice work shumski... Clean and symmetrical!

[shumski]

Symmetry is the key to success I believe

[BagLady]

Symmetry = beauty... Beauty = success. Sad but true!

[skauskas]

Originally Posted by shumski

You can use the images for non-commercial use.

well.. if you are using it in your portfolio and get a client who will pay you money then it can be considered as commercial use.. but let's hope that it's ok)) I really need photos for my portfolio so thank you very much for info

[SteveB2005]

I think what the site's agreement is reading that you may not sell the images themselves for profit, like printing up a calendar, 1000 copies and then selling them on ebay for profit. You can go to the site and read about usage rights. It says the owners of the images are posting them to help others for their projects. They also have rules about buying the rights of the images themselves for profit. At least this is how I interpret the license agreement