Retouchng How to

[ncp]

Ok I've been using photoshop for a good while but I'd say around full 6 months in the retouching field, I'm trying to step up some retouching to bring skin out alot, like this;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/larajade/2824272149/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahlo...hy/2848291329/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahlo...phy/779374347/

Firstly as you can tell I'm abit of a noob round her lol, I actually have no idea what steps people take in retouching (mainly do healing brush, blurred layer, layer mask, paint brush etc etc) You can view most of my photo at the following;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/creativefreestyler/

Really looking to see if someone could point out my errors / suggestions on how to achieve this effect, MUCH thanks in advance

[0lBaldy]

Originally Posted by ncp

Ok I've been using photoshop for a good while but I'd say around full 6 months in the retouching field, I'm trying to step up some retouching to bring skin out alot,<Clip>
Really looking to see if someone could point out my errors / suggestions on how to achieve this effect, MUCH thanks in advance

Nick, , welcome to RetouchPRO! Nice to have you aboard. Poke around, ask questions, have fun! Hope you enjoy your visits here.

As far as achieving the effects.. it would be much better to do it in camera and just use Photoshop as an aid in doing clean-up work.

The effects you would like to emulate are achieved with judicious use of different types of lighting, reflectors, barn doors, snoots, etc.. then maybe some PWL (Paint With Light) or D&B (Dodge & Burn) post shoot

As a side note.. It is much better if you do not link to images on other servers, since those links can break and that makes the forum thread essentially useless for future readers.

These threads may help explain how to size and post:
Attaching Files or Images to Threads or Posts

Size and quality for Attached Images!!

After you post your less than 100K version, you could link to a site that is hosting a larger version.

[BagLady]

Hello Ncp and welcome to RP,

If you hang around a bit, you will learn that blurring the skin destroys the original pixels!

Check out this RP tutorial for the D&B technique:
http://retouchpro.com/tutorials/?m=show&id=272

[TommyO]

ncp,
I have always liked books because you can tag pages, highlight text, refer back easily, etc. The book I have always recommended to get newbies started is Katrin Eismann's Photohop Restoration & Retouching, Third Edition, New Riders publishing. It comes with links to her website to allow for downloading all the images so you can actually practice on the same material and emulate her results. Although there is much on restoration, there are at least 4-5 important chapters (tone/contrast, exposure, color, portrait retouch, glamour retouch) and 2 that directly work with retouch. The fundamentals taught are well worth the cost.
Best of luck.