Would anyone like to practice...

[trb75]

Hi,

Have been snooping around retouchpro for a while now trying to pick up tips and help on retouching and must say I have learned a lot in a short time. I am a fairly new photographer and do my own retouching - though sometimes this leaves alot to be desired and perhaps I should leave it to the experts as I am quickly learning there are no secrets and that it takes a lot of hard work, time and dedication.

In saying all that I took a photo the other night that I think has the potential to be very good if retouched correctly and I wondered if anyone would like to see what they can do with it. I have attached a low res version but the original RAW file can be downloaded from http://www.sendspace.com/file/nuy6lm

Let me know if you would like to give it a go. I would be very interested to see what you guys/gals can come up with.

Thanks
Tony

[DJSoulglo]

I think you'll get more reactions to this if you just post the RAW on sendspace or something and post the link here.

[trb75]

Originally Posted by DJSoulglo

I think you'll get more reactions to this if you just post the RAW on sendspace or something and post the link here.

Hi,

Thanks for the advice, I will update my original post now with a link. Should have thought of that in first place.

Tony

[flexmanta]

Great image. Is it ok for portfolio but giving you the credits for the photography?
Thanks

[trb75]

Originally Posted by flexmanta

Great image. Is it ok for portfolio but giving you the credits for the photography?
Thanks

Hi, thanks for kind comment. I would be happy for that as long as I could use retouched version in same way...i.e. credit for the retouching?

Credit for photography should be Tony Ball Photography.

Thanks

[flexmanta]

No problems. This will take me 2 days or so, perhaps more because im working on another one that miiiight get me a full time job, YEY!!!!

[trb75]

Originally Posted by flexmanta

No problems. This will take me 2 days or so, perhaps more because im working on another one that miiiight get me a full time job, YEY!!!!

No hurry, just let me know as and when you have something.

Best of luck with the one you are working on and I hope it gets you the job!!

Have seen some of your posts on here and some of the work you have done so I am excited to see what you can do with my photo.

Speak soon
Tony

[limelight]

Originally Posted by flexmanta

.... Im working on another one that miiiight get me a full time job, yey!!!!

good luck!

[derekj]

hey. took a stab at it. what do you think?
test-2-1.jpg

[Gary]

Thanks for the play!

Cheers.

[flexmanta]

Guys, i think you 2 need to think something before doing your retouch and it is visualizing what the photograph actually needs and what doesn't. Think of it this way: The photographer spent time measuring light, positioning it and choosing the right modifiers. Then he decided on ratios, background, ambient vs flash, or no ambient at all.... he made those choices. As retouchers you need to respect that.

Most of you started retouching the photo in a way that "erased" the photographers job and didn't correct any of the problems that he didn't have 100% control over (make up, modeling, skin, hair).

Before even thinking about special effects you first need to correct things, and THEN, and only if needed you could start thinking "sfx".

I've been working on this file for 5 hours and I still haven't changed color, contrast or anything like that. This image needed heavy cleaning/restructuring. Without those things fixed, anything else you do is a waste of time and a ticket to not be taken seriously by the photographer.


I have uploaded a work in progress.
-Couple conversions merged
-Restructuring
-Local contrast and some D&B

[gazhilla]

Hi guys,
Tony is a mate of mine and the image was set up and light correctly, Flex, your version is looking very very good mate and what you said is so true about staying true to the photographers vision. If you ever need amy more headshots to work on let either of us know, we have a selection.
Nice work fella.

[trb75]

Flexmanta : That is looking really good....

Derekj / Gary - I think Flexmanta makes very valid points and gives good advice. I am in no way a retouching pro nor will I ever be but I have to agree with what has been said in that, as a photographer, I do not want the photo changed drastically with different backgrounds or making the model look plastic/false, but at the same time I appreciate there are things "wrong" with the photo that a retoucher should be able to fix/enhance. But I thank you for your time and hope you enjoyed playing with the photo and also hope that you may have learned some new things...

Tony

[Oskari-]

Hi Tony!

First of all, thanks for the nice pic to work with! Here's what I did in PP:

-Skin fix (Removing lines, hairs ets.)
-Hair fix (Color, extra hair that bothered me )
-Shaping (Eyes, lips, jaw, nose)
-Skin smoothing
-Little sharpening

_MG_1269_by_Oskari.jpg

[W.Smith]

Originally Posted by trb75

Hi,

Have been snooping around retouchpro for a while now trying to pick up tips and help on retouching and must say I have learned a lot in a short time. I am a fairly new photographer and do my own retouching - though sometimes this leaves alot to be desired and perhaps I should leave it to the experts as I am quickly learning there are no secrets and that it takes a lot of hard work, time and dedication.

In saying all that I took a photo the other night that I think has the potential to be very good if retouched correctly and I wondered if anyone would like to see what they can do with it. I have attached a low res version but the original RAW file can be downloaded from http://www.sendspace.com/file/nuy6lm

Let me know if you would like to give it a go. I would be very interested to see what you guys/gals can come up with.

Thanks
Tony

Sendspace is useless: "Sorry, the free service is at full capacity."

Better use FREE http://www.wetransfer.com, which doesn't run/time out.

[Gary]

Originally Posted by flexmanta

Guys, i think you 2 need to think something before doing your retouch and it is visualizing what the photograph actually needs and what doesn't. Think of it this way: The photographer spent time measuring light, positioning it and choosing the right modifiers. Then he decided on ratios, background, ambient vs flash, or no ambient at all.... he made those choices. As retouchers you need to respect that.
Most of you started retouching the photo in a way that "erased" the photographers job and didn't correct any of the problems that he didn't have 100% control over (make up, modeling, skin, hair).
Before even thinking about special effects you first need to correct things, and THEN, and only if needed you could start thinking "sfx".
I've been working on this file for 5 hours and I still haven't changed color, contrast or anything like that. This image needed heavy cleaning/restructuring. Without those things fixed, anything else you do is a waste of time and a ticket to not be taken seriously by the photographer.
I have uploaded a work in progress.
-Couple conversions merged
-Restructuring
-Local contrast and some D&B

I think that you comments are well based Tony and I thank you.

In my case, I approached this project in a very general way and made the changes to suit my tastes at the time. The original poster had not made comment regarding his/her dislikes of this pose nor was there any mention of anything in particular that he/she would like to see changed. I prefer that there would be more of this. And, when it's not stated, is there a right or wrong? There sure is a 'good and not-so-good.' Accordingly, I understood this to be a case where 'lets see what you do and how does it look now?'

I like the professional results of your time that you put in and I have learned accordingly. Next time, I will rethink my approach, especially when there are no defined directions, try something different and learn even more. Constructive critiques do that for me.

It's all subjective IMHO.

Cheers!

[flexmanta]

Hehe, still working on the image. And, btw, according to my "creative director" Natalia Taffarel (aka Godmother) heheh, in retouching, there noticeable IS right and wrong.

[MiningArt]

Thanks Tony for the image to try out. I retouched a little and played with light and shadow.

[secretagents]

Here goes. I have overwritten the original sized retouched file with this one by mistake so there won't be anything more from me I am afraid (unless I start over again that is).

[trb75]

SecretAgents - Thanks very much for that - I like what you have done as it has stayed true to the original photograph - shame you overwrote it!

[flexmanta]

Just one more update of the work in progress. About 9 hours so far. Light still needs a bit of evening and the body needs carving and retexturing (maybe I'll need 3rd party texture). Just a couple more hours and I call it finished. I will send you the full res when im done.


Before After.

[Quantum3]

Originally Posted by DJSoulglo

I think you'll get more reactions to this if you just post the RAW on sendspace or something and post the link here.

Bro, if I'm recalling right, you posted a pic of your studio, or something related, and there were some super chairs there. Would you mind to let me know if you did that? 'Cause I'm wanting to buy a new pc chair.

[Tomi Hawk]

flexmanta .. woW! What you did is really impressive ..

My first post here .. so hello !
And with that, I thought I'd give it a try .
I didn't like how her left shoulder was *pointy* .. sooo. I flattened it lol!
I also kina liquified her right eye, and gave her a hint of lip-stick ..

Hope this looks ok ..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/img1269b.jpg

Tomi

[flexmanta]

Thanks tomy. Hey, tony, one question. 125th f/5.6... are you using speedlites?

[Quantum3]

Yo Flex, great retouch you did. The skin looks really amazing!

[trb75]

Originally Posted by flexmanta

Thanks tomy. Hey, tony, one question. 125th f/5.6... are you using speedlites?

Flex, that is looking amazing!! Cannot wait to see the full resolution version!

No this was shot in the studio using a 4 light set up, a main light (softbox), a fill light (softbox), a hair light and finally a background light.

Thanks again so much Flex for your efforts on this....

[DWThomp]

Here is my work in progress.

[W.Smith]

This is a lousy small, low-res image to work on. This site's max. attachment size sucks!
Better post links to Large File Transfer services like Wetransfer.com.

Anyway, I gave it a go.
I wouldn't do too much to this image (at this tiny size!): retouch skin blemishes, smooth skin, brighten eyes, enhance catchlights.
Download my before & after from http://tinyurl.com/ya5fsth

[Quantum3]

It wouldn't be better saying that the site's max doesn't fullfil your expectations instead saying that it sucks?

[flexmanta]

W.Smith, in photoshop you can change the size of your images easily. Press ctrl - shift - tab up arrow key twice, and the nuclear image resizer dialogue will pop up. Type in the brand of the camera you want the image to look like, and voilá:

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/6053/tonyball1.jpg




...guys I would upload the PSD file, but it's currently about 2Gb in size.