Different Retouching Techniques

[Zeckson]

Hello all, I would like to obtain opinions on this photo that I retouched. I would like to learn more on different techniques and methods that other members in this forum may have.

I shot this photo last Sunday. The idea is to bend towards a commercial feel. I have attached the original and my edited version in this thread.

I encourage experts to download the original and do your own retouching. While doing so, kindly reveal your workflow so that I can learn or pick up something from your technique.

To qualify myself on my statement above, I am revealing my workflow for those who wanna learn:

1. Duplicate layer (This is your working layer)
2. Duplicate layer again
3. Blending Mode: Screen
4. Merge layer down (You now have 2 layers - Background + Background copy)
5. Apply Image > Red Channel > Soft Light
6. Shadows/Highlight
7. Apply Image > Red Channel > Multiply
8. Levels (Adjust midtones)
9. Apply Image > Red Channel > Multiply
10. Shadows/Highlight
11. Levels (Adjust midtones again)
12. Dodge (On selective skin areas)
13. Burn (All other areas needed)
14. Hue/Saturation (Desaturate a little)
15. Unsharp Mask

Note:
If you are not willing to reveal your workflow to the detail as I did, please don't bother to reply this thread. I am only interested in communicating with sincere people that wanna share, learn and exchange ideas.

Please stick to the objectives of this thread. Reveal, share and discuss on technique.

Sorry if I sounded arrogant but after reading that super duper long thread on the demystification of Dave Hill, I don't wanna people try and found some great techniques and walked off without sharing in details.

[0lBaldy]

If you are going to shoot with a Nikon D80 then at least give us a 10Meg photo to work on for a reasonable comparison... this sample you are wanting a work-flow on is mighty tiny!

[Zeckson]

Apologize for this. I have uploaded the file up here. Sorry, I did not shoot the file at 10 MP. Just used 2.5 MP only.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y35...n/ee1b9b57.jpg

[goldphoto]

Thanks for the generous information.
I tried it out today, LOVE it!
Gina

[Zeckson]

Originally Posted by goldphoto

Thanks for the generous information.
I tried it out today, LOVE it!
Gina

Good luck and post your result here in my thread. Don't forget to put down your detailed workflow.

[igot2pman]

You made me laugh OlBaldy.

Originally Posted by 0lBaldy

this sample you are wanting a work-flow on is mighty tiny!

Duplicate layer (This is your working layer)
Clean the image: Heal
Sharpen of your choice
Duplicate layer again
Blending Mode: Screen
Merge layer down (You now have 2 layers - Background + Background copy)
Apply Image > Green Channel > Pin Light
Apply Image > Blue Channel > Lighten
Levels (Adjust midtones)
Apply Image > Green Channel > Overlay > Invert
Edit > Fade > 50%
Add Vignette

I don’t have time right now but I’ll try something different later. This was just something quick to revive some of her color. This would be a good starting point, I think, for further editing. Beautiful girl.

-Keven

[0lBaldy]

Originally Posted by Zeckson

The idea is to bend towards a commercial feel. I have attached the original and my edited version in this thread.
I encourage experts to download the original and do your own retouching.

Zeckson, If you were going for High Key.. you got there! Your retouch is a little bright for my taste but if that was what you were aiming for then you did good.. it is sort of hard to judge such a small picture though.

OOPS!! I just re-read your rules and instructions and I guess I am disqualified ... I am far from an expert.. just a Old hobbyist having a little fun, so don't take anything I say or do to serious!

I am working with PS7(no highlight/shadow filter).. So I use Photomatic and make a HDR and tone-map to take the filters place)
Ctrl+J (copy background)
clone N heal (Primarily the background, got rid of distracting items... She looks pretty good.. (in more ways than one!)
Brightened Iris
deleted a couple catch lights
darkened Pupil
New layer, painted lips black, mode Softlight, 50%opacity
Shft+Ctrl+Alt+N+E (New layer copy N paste everything showing)
Ctrl+J
High pass filter 9.5 blend mode hard light 89%
saved as Jpeg..
Opened Photomatix made a HDR and tonemapped the saved Jpeg
Back into PS7 drag tone-map onto working picture
Blend mode hard light 70% opacity
Shft+Ctrl+Alt+N+E
Ctrl+J
Imagenomic Noise reduction.. masked back in hair, lips eyes
new layer filled 50% gray filter add noise 2.5% (even), hard light 45% opacity.. Hide all mask put noise where I needed it
Shft+Ctrl+Alt+N+E
Used large history brush set @multiple and 45% to darken all 4 corners
Saved for Web

Ran a Dragan action on a copy but it looked pretty bad so I trashed it!

Dun Playing

[dwallace29]

I am a complete novice to retouching. On the website www.popphoto.com. There is a tab, "HOW TO". Click on the "How To" tab. Under the heading, "Image Editing", there will be an article, "Digital Toolbox: How to Edit Portraits", by Debbie Grossman. Take a look, it does not take advantage of the dodge & burn features, it walks you through some applications using curves. The author, Debbie Grossman, does acknowledge that this is more of a skin smoothing technique. What I did was to print out the fourteen step instructions. I got tired of switching between screens, and the paper allowed me to make notes in the margins. But it walked me through each and every step, to acheive the goal I wanted. The workflow is very detailed. Remember, I am someone who is a novice. Check it out, because people with a higher level of skill than I, will find this article extremely useful...

[Zeckson]

Originally Posted by igot2pman

You made me laugh OlBaldy.



Duplicate layer (This is your working layer)
Clean the image: Heal
Sharpen of your choice
Duplicate layer again
Blending Mode: Screen
Merge layer down (You now have 2 layers - Background + Background copy)
Apply Image > Green Channel > Pin Light
Apply Image > Blue Channel > Lighten
Levels (Adjust midtones)
Apply Image > Green Channel > Overlay > Invert
Edit > Fade > 50%
Add Vignette

I don’t have time right now but I’ll try something different later. This was just something quick to revive some of her color. This would be a good starting point, I think, for further editing. Beautiful girl.

-Keven

Nice stuff Kevin! You have some interesting workflow steps up there. Just wondering why pin light on green channel and thenlighten on blue channel... The invert also looks interesting. I will try it and see what I will get. Very nice of you to take the effort to do something here. Nice retouch too.

[Zeckson]

Originally Posted by 0lBaldy

Zeckson, If you were going for High Key.. you got there! Your retouch is a little bright for my taste but if that was what you were aiming for then you did good.. it is sort of hard to judge such a small picture though.

OOPS!! I just re-read your rules and instructions and I guess I am disqualified ... I am far from an expert.. just a Old hobbyist having a little fun, so don't take anything I say or do to serious!

I am working with PS7(no highlight/shadow filter).. So I use Photomatic and make a HDR and tone-map to take the filters place)
Ctrl+J (copy background)
clone N heal (Primarily the background, got rid of distracting items... She looks pretty good.. (in more ways than one!)
Brightened Iris
deleted a couple catch lights
darkened Pupil
New layer, painted lips black, mode Softlight, 50%opacity
Shft+Ctrl+Alt+N+E (New layer copy N paste everything showing)
Ctrl+J
High pass filter 9.5 blend mode hard light 89%
saved as Jpeg..
Opened Photomatix made a HDR and tonemapped the saved Jpeg
Back into PS7 drag tone-map onto working picture
Blend mode hard light 70% opacity
Shft+Ctrl+Alt+N+E
Ctrl+J
Imagenomic Noise reduction.. masked back in hair, lips eyes
new layer filled 50% gray filter add noise 2.5% (even), hard light 45% opacity.. Hide all mask put noise where I needed it
Shft+Ctrl+Alt+N+E
Used large history brush set @multiple and 45% to darken all 4 corners
Saved for Web

Ran a Dragan action on a copy but it looked pretty bad so I trashed it!

Dun Playing

Thanks 0lBaldy! Wow... Mimicking new features in CS2 using old school methods! And still be able to get splendid results! You are one old ginger! Thanks a lot for the effort!

[Zeckson]

Originally Posted by dwallace29

I am a complete novice to retouching. On the website www.popphoto.com. There is a tab, "HOW TO". Click on the "How To" tab. Under the heading, "Image Editing", there will be an article, "Digital Toolbox: How to Edit Portraits", by Debbie Grossman. Take a look, it does not take advantage of the dodge & burn features, it walks you through some applications using curves. The author, Debbie Grossman, does acknowledge that this is more of a skin smoothing technique. What I did was to print out the fourteen step instructions. I got tired of switching between screens, and the paper allowed me to make notes in the margins. But it walked me through each and every step, to acheive the goal I wanted. The workflow is very detailed. Remember, I am someone who is a novice. Check it out, because people with a higher level of skill than I, will find this article extremely useful...

Thanks dwallace29. I have read through the site. I basically know what the retouching is. I am interested in members taking my image and do their stuffs. But thanks for the link.

[igot2pman]

Zeckson,

The green: pinlight is because the image is reddish and green offsets megenta. So the pinlight darkens the reds adding a little more deffinition that was lost with the screen.

Blue: lighten was to get rid of the blue cast in the background cubbys. It basicly desaturates only the blue. It also desaturated the pants, I could have masked that but I thought that it made the outfit look better.

Green: invert: overlay was to add back color. As I said, green offsets megenta, so when you invert it, it turns around and pops megenta. But the effect is deffenetly way too much so you have to fade it till it looks right (about 50%).

The steps here were specificly for this image, but the it could be converted to any image.

-Keven

[igot2pman]

Olbaldy,

I love that texture on the shirt and pants. Good job.

-Keven

[OperaFan1981]

Quickie edit. Download the TIF file. Layer names or what I did should be self-explanatory.

http://rapidshare.com/files/175055825/ee1b9b57.tif.html

[EBJones]

Gave this one a shot:

Layer Via Copy
onOne PhotoTools: Kyoko Punch
onOne PhotoTools: Dave's Darken and Lighten A3
Layer Via Copy

LucisArt Effect: Sculpture
Button: 1
Amount: 0%
Mix: 100%

Select layer “PhotoTools #1” Without Make Visible

Quick Selection of just the model.

Select the LucisArt Layer, mask and paint over the model with a 50% grey mask to lower the Lucis effect on the model while retaining the effect on the background.

Sharpen, resize and SFW.

[0lBaldy]

Originally Posted by igot2pman

Olbaldy,
I love that texture on the shirt and pants. Good job.
-Keven

Thanks Keven & Zeckson

[Diego81]

Checklist / workflow


First I Identify the unwanted objects as the chair and the backgorund. They where very distractive on my opinion.

1. BG copy
2. remove unwante objects
3. D&B in shadows and highlights
4. push curves up
5. tune colors with colorbalance and screen blending mode
6.resize for web
7. deliver to retouchpro forum.

[julianmarsalis]

Originally Posted by OperaFan1981

Quickie edit. Download the TIF file. Layer names or what I did should be self-explanatory.

http://rapidshare.com/files/175055825/ee1b9b57.tif.html

Dang guess I am to late get the following:

Error

This file is neither allocated to a Premium Account, or a Collector's Account, and can therefore only be downloaded 10 times.

This limit is reached.

To download this file, the uploader either needs to transfer this file into his/her Collector's Account, or upload the file again. The file can later be moved to a Collector's Account. The uploader just needs to click the delete link of the file to get further information.

[snook305]

Originally Posted by Zeckson

Hello all, I would like to obtain opinions on this photo that I retouched. I would like to learn more on different techniques and methods that other members in this forum may have.

I shot this photo last Sunday. The idea is to bend towards a commercial feel. I have attached the original and my edited version in this thread.

I encourage experts to download the original and do your own retouching. While doing so, kindly reveal your workflow so that I can learn or pick up something from your technique.

To qualify myself on my statement above, I am revealing my workflow for those who wanna learn:

1. Duplicate layer (This is your working layer)
2. Duplicate layer again
3. Blending Mode: Screen
4. Merge layer down (You now have 2 layers - Background + Background copy)
5. Apply Image > Red Channel > Soft Light
6. Shadows/Highlight
7. Apply Image > Red Channel > Multiply
8. Levels (Adjust midtones)
9. Apply Image > Red Channel > Multiply
10. Shadows/Highlight
11. Levels (Adjust midtones again)
12. Dodge (On selective skin areas)
13. Burn (All other areas needed)
14. Hue/Saturation (Desaturate a little)
15. Unsharp Mask

Note:
If you are not willing to reveal your workflow to the detail as I did, please don't bother to reply this thread. I am only interested in communicating with sincere people that wanna share, learn and exchange ideas.

Please stick to the objectives of this thread. Reveal, share and discuss on technique.

Sorry if I sounded arrogant but after reading that super duper long thread on the demystification of Dave Hill, I don't wanna people try and found some great techniques and walked off without sharing in details.

I guess that means that MTMM and Obsala or not invited to this thread..
LOL

Snook

[mamamia]

Originally Posted by Zeckson

Hello all, I would like to obtain opinions on this photo that I retouched. I would like to learn more on different techniques and methods that other members in this forum may have.

I shot this photo last Sunday. The idea is to bend towards a commercial feel. I have attached the original and my edited version in this thread.

I encourage experts to download the original and do your own retouching. While doing so, kindly reveal your workflow so that I can learn or pick up something from your technique.

To qualify myself on my statement above, I am revealing my workflow for those who wanna learn:

1. Duplicate layer (This is your working layer)
2. Duplicate layer again
3. Blending Mode: Screen
4. Merge layer down (You now have 2 layers - Background + Background copy)
5. Apply Image > Red Channel > Soft Light
6. Shadows/Highlight
7. Apply Image > Red Channel > Multiply
8. Levels (Adjust midtones)
9. Apply Image > Red Channel > Multiply
10. Shadows/Highlight
11. Levels (Adjust midtones again)
12. Dodge (On selective skin areas)
13. Burn (All other areas needed)
14. Hue/Saturation (Desaturate a little)
15. Unsharp Mask

Note:
If you are not willing to reveal your workflow to the detail as I did, please don't bother to reply this thread. I am only interested in communicating with sincere people that wanna share, learn and exchange ideas.

Please stick to the objectives of this thread. Reveal, share and discuss on technique.

Sorry if I sounded arrogant but after reading that super duper long thread on the demystification of Dave Hill, I don't wanna people try and found some great techniques and walked off without sharing in details.

This is my job

[Mtmm]

Originally Posted by snook305

I guess that means that MTMM and Obsala or not invited to this thread..
LOL

Snook

Snook is still pissed of Whineeeeee......

[miikki006]

my way:
girl

1. calvinhollywood trik with 2 raw convesion
2. make the poolstick multiply blendmode then copy it and use hipass to sharpen a bit
3. D&B
4. add saturation to jeans and pooltable
5. lighten chest litle by levels
6. litle touchup to lips and eyes by curves & brightness/contrast

backround
i didn´t have motivation to clean the backround off crap what there is. Only same 2 way conversion to add sharpness plus some s-curve contrast and hipass

sorry about bad english it isn´t my native language because im from finland

[mileeeeeeenaaaa]

1. duplicate background layer twice
2. desurate the topmost layer
3. change the blending mode of this layer to linear light
4. reduce opacity to 62%
5. working on the middle layer open up levels
6. up the midtones a lot and the highlights just a little bit, bring the shadows down,
7. reduce the opacity of this layer to 70%

then of course you can do anything else you want to it...

[mileeeeeeenaaaa]

on a second look, i guess i could have brightned up the billiard table and her top a bit, but im pressed for time.

i will do it when i can...

[mileeeeeeenaaaa]

i just added a lighten layer above the last layer
and i put a layer mask on it and painted the lighten onto the hair and top
i then did some dodge and burn on the woman the sticks and the billiard table
and changed the blending mode to vivid light and lowered opacity to 65%

i think it looks effective...

[Gobsmacked]

I liked your retouch and I would just like to say ... WOW ! I don't have a workflow and after reading this my head is spinning . I've copied out yours to try for myself . I've bookmarked this thread !!! Bill