touch up a photo, please help

[ch33sewiz]

I'm just new in retouching photos for magazine.
And I'm struggling.

Can you guys help me to retouch this photo for magazine cover?
It's a local model here in cambodia.
heres a hires copy of the photo.

Id appreciate it so much, thanks

[ch33sewiz]

anyone want to help?

[skauskas]

of course we can! what kind of problem in retouching this photo do you have?

[Sinisa]

this sounds like it should be a paid job...

[skauskas]

Originally Posted by Sinisa

this sounds like it should be a paid job...

exactly!

[ch33sewiz]

awts!
anyway, thanks for the replies, id appreciated it.
i just got a little time, anyway, i'll just try to retouch it following the tutorials here!

Thx!

[igot2pman]

I dont understand... if you new to retouching, how did you get a job for a mag as a retoucher... I dont understand what the real problem is, the photo is not bad... it shouldnt be that hard to fix. The only problem may be the actual size of the image being small. But I see good detail and model has good skin

Secondly, every mag has there own style and someone just editing the picture without direction is just shooting in the dark. Past covers or guidence would help here.

Lastly, I agree, it does not sound like your asking for help, more of a favor. If this was for you or a family member I would try may hand. But as this is going to be a cover for a mag... something that is going to make you or someone money... this should have some sort of compensation.

I'll try editing it later for fun... but im only going to post a small thumbnail.

-Keven

[igot2pman]

OK it’s finally done... I think. Honestly I did too much to say it all... As I asked for DIRECTION and never got any, I just did what I felt looked good.

Let me know what you all think. Comments welcome.

I did two versions, one regular and the other sepia. The originals below are there for comparison reasons. There a bit soft from the output reduction.

-Keven

[ch33sewiz]

Hi, sorry, been busy!
Firstly thank you very much for what you did for the photo.
Im not a retoucher in the mag, im just a layout artist, layouting spreads. i was just ask if i could edit/retouch the cover photo, so that it looks good when printed. but im very new to retouching portrait photo for magazine, and i dont have the time at the moment to study tutorials, but im on it now, just struggling

about the retouching of the photo, you can retouch whatever you like, i just need a some ideas how did you that, so i can also practice it. a workflow, so that i will follow it on our every cover. thanks a lot

and...hmmm.. can you give me a hires copy of the sepia one, a psd perhaps, so that i can study it. can i?
a huge favor!

[manta1900]

How about something like that?

[igot2pman]

Manta1900,

Good job. Assuming this is a female mag???, very good choice on the background. Just a suggestion, you might want to take out some of those stray hairs. Just sample your background color and paint over them (assuming your background is even and not gradient). Very simple and quick.

I like the pink hilights, good detail work.

-Keven

[igot2pman]

ch33sewiz,

I’m afraid that I am not going to post a PSD... like we said; if you stand to make money off of it, then it’s not for free...

But as this is a place of learning, I will post my layers pallet. I learned everything I did here from this forum. So recreating it should be no problem if you take the time and participate.

Every step below except for the main folders is an action I made. Each one has a purpose and has its strengths and weaknesses. I will answer questions about what they do but not how to get the effect. Most of them are simple.

The main thing that makes my image better is the D&B. Everything else is mostly for lighting and healing. By the way, everything was done non-destructively (even the sharpening). You can go back and edit any layer and affect the global picture.

-Keven

[neumanns]

The Photographer has a $4000 camera I would imagine he has aquired some PP skill's to go along with his photography skill's. He may consider doing the retouch for free especially if he knows that if he don't someone may slaughter his picture.

I will not sell an unprocessed photo for this reason. I don't want someone to make a mess of my picture and then put it on display...Someone may think it was I who screwed up.

Now Don't get me wrong, I can mess up a photo just as bad as anybody. But if I'm the one that did it then I can live with that.

But if I'm not the one that did it...I don't want that photo to represent me.

Also out of curiosity what is the cover size of your magazine? If it's simular to the USA it makes for a bit of an wierd crop.

[r_dg]

well i fixed a lot of things, without direction you just do what you think its the best for the model n the magazine, here is my attempt to make the model look more magazine worthy... hope u like it...

[RokcetScientist]

Originally Posted by ch33sewiz

anyone want to help?

Maybe if you actually post the photo you're on about.
Without it you're on your own.

[igot2pman]

r_dg,

Is that a sepia on the skirt is that just a hue brown shift?

-Keven

[r_dg]

Originally Posted by igot2pman

r_dg,

Is that a sepia on the skirt is that just a hue brown shift?

-Keven

actually i painted some brown in another layer in color blending mode, then i made a selection and put a selective color adjustment layer, tweaked the values a bit so it looked more natural.

[igot2pman]

r dg,

Thanks for sharing.

-Keven

[ch33sewiz]

hi again,

thanks for all the replies, and retouching... they're all great!
anyway, I tried to do it myself with tuts from here, and the results. I use the quick degrunge technique. d&b is really tough, and it will take me a lot of time to learn it. goodluck to me

I just tried it, but don't if it's good or what, c&c are appreciated

thanks guys

[igot2pman]

ch33sewiz,

Overall, its ok. But you missed a lot of detail work. It looks soft but that is a trend now. Most people here would tell you that skin detail should be retained. That look can be found in lower end mag's.

Red:Hair clean up
Blue: heal
Green: sharpen, looks soft in the small thumbnail.
Yellow:dodge

-Keven

[ch33sewiz]

Originally Posted by igot2pman

ch33sewiz,

Overall, its ok. But you missed a lot of detail work. It looks soft but that is a trend now. Most people here would tell you that skin detail should be retained. That look can be found in lower end mag's.

Red:Hair clean up
Blue: heal
Green: sharpen, looks soft in the small thumbnail.
Yellow:dodge

-Keven

Thank you very much!
So what technique can suggest for that? so that i'll research it in here.

[igot2pman]

Red: even color background = just paint over it with same color
Green: any sharpener then make layer mask all black then paint white over the bracelet

-Keven

[ch33sewiz]

Hi guys, thanks for all the help!

Here's another photo that I retouched, C&C please, it'll help me a lot to improve!

cheers,

[garibaldi]

Originally Posted by ch33sewiz

about the retouching of the photo, you can retouch whatever you like, i just need a some ideas how did you that, so i can also practice it. a workflow, so that i will follow it on our every cover. thanks a lot

and...hmmm.. can you give me a hires copy of the sepia one, a psd perhaps, so that i can study it. can i?
a huge favor!

Is this guy for real?

When you go out to eat and you have a good meal, do you walk back to the kitchen and explain to the chef that you sometimes cook at home for your family, and then ask him if he would be so kind as to jot down the recipe and where he gets his inredients from for the dish you just scarfed down?

[ch33sewiz]

Originally Posted by garibaldi

Is this guy for real?

When you go out to eat and you have a good meal, do you walk back to the kitchen and explain to the chef that you sometimes cook at home for your family, and then ask him if he would be so kind as to jot down the recipe and where he gets his inredients from for the dish you just scarfed down?

woa! I'm just asking there sir, if its ok with him. but I understand what his trying to say and explain sir, that's why I'd just do it and try to retouch it by myself, as you can see, I uploaded some of them here so that I can get some comments/critics for me to know what's lacking or needs improvement. sorry sir!

[Cassidy]

A good start would be to improve the face or the hand/arm, they need to be normalised some to the same lighting, you could brighten the eyes, remove stray hairs etc

[ch33sewiz]

Originally Posted by Cassidy

A good start would be to improve the face or the hand/arm, they need to be normalised some to the same lighting, you could brighten the eyes, remove stray hairs etc

hi, thanks,
do you have a tip for brighten up the eyes?

[mileeeeeeenaaaa]

i think, ch33sewiz, that someone else needs to take your job. you cant ask people here to do YOUR job. i would suggest figuring it out on your own so u dont piss of a lot of people here...

[ch33sewiz]

alright! thanks!

[mileeeeeeenaaaa]

even though i think you are a bludger...
i took a crack at this photo
because i thought it would be fun

i tried the amy dresser technique on her arm
and i liquified it a bit
changed some colours around
bit of dodging and burning
overall sharpen
added a highlight to the hair

and some other things
took me about half an hour

anyone want to critique?











edit: i left the hairs in at the sides because without them the photo looked "overly photoshopped" i think it looks better with them there.