Bride-to-be...what can you do?

[Steve Conway]

Why isn't she smiling?

Steve C.

[carseasoncity]

Originally Posted by Steve Conway

Why isn't she smiling?

Steve C.

Because she was being forced to marry against her will by her evil parents who were only concerned with the wealth that the arrogant groom possessed...oh...wait...wrong bride. Just kiddin'.

As I mentioned in the original post this was a candid shot. She wasn't aware of me at this point as she was deep in conversation with her maid of honor, and probably trying to calm her nerves as this was right before the wedding.

Nice work.
Brandi

[jch71566]

I really like the shot! I was inspired by Palms and Danny.

I used impressionist, paint engine, and a few other tricks.

Enjoy!

[0lBaldy]

HDR_tonemapped
Painted out tree on original
Moved tone mapped on top of original with a hide all mask
Let dress of tone mapped show through by painting with white
Merged all layers then used the "More sketch than HighKey" action
Lightened the sketch with levels
Layed it on top of the merged layers as a soft light layer

[Peter S]

Just had to have a go at such a great pic.

Peter

[Peter S]

And another, a little lighter and more attention paid to the detail in the posh frock.

Peter

[cindy fuller]

Here's my go at it. She's a lovely bride. I love her dress! Thanks for the great practice! I may have gone a little far with it. I tend to lose the world and get lost in the painting.

Cindy

[carseasoncity]

Originally Posted by cindy fuller

Here's my go at it. She's a lovely bride. I love her dress! Thanks for the great practice! I may have gone a little far with it. I tend to lose the world and get lost in the painting.

Cindy

AWESOME!!! Great work! Any tips on how you achieved it? Thanks!
Brandi

[lilysharon]

I really like the last one posted.
I went the other direction and lightened it.

[Steve Conway]

Originally Posted by carseasoncity

Because she was being forced to marry against her will by her evil parents who were only concerned with the wealth that the arrogant groom possessed...oh...wait...wrong bride. Just kiddin'.

As I mentioned in the original post this was a candid shot. She wasn't aware of me at this point as she was deep in conversation with her maid of honor, and probably trying to calm her nerves as this was right before the wedding.

Nice work.
Brandi

Yeah, I thought so. She's thinking, "Do I really want to marry this bum?"

Kidding also...it's a nice study of a bride that you seldom see. Most wedding pics are all smiles, sweetness, and light. This is a prize. And I'll bet she likes it best as the years go by.

Steve C.

[Ziaphra]

Some lovely renditions here...one from me!

[cindy fuller]

Originally Posted by carseasoncity

AWESOME!!! Great work! Any tips on how you achieved it? Thanks!
Brandi

Thanks, Brandi!

In Photoshop:
I started out duplicating the image (never work on the original). I like to work on bigger photos, so I resized by upping the resolution. I usually set the resolution to 300 pixels/inch, because most of the time the photos posted online are at 72 pixels/inch. Yours was posted at 350, so I just doubled it to 700. I'm sure that's not the proper way to resize, but it works for me, and it's easy.

I knew I wanted to have some of the texture on the dress, so I selected a bit of the dress and saved it as a brush to use later.I duped the background layer. Then I went into levels and brightened the photo a bit. Used a layer mask to bring out the brighter colors where I wanted them by painting on the mask with black. Did the same for the for the darks. Flattened the photo. Added a 1-2 inch border of white by resizing the canvas.

Added a layer, painted with the backgound color on the photo, behind the bride to cover the tree, so when I flattened the image the tree was gone. Again, I know this probably wasn't the proper way to do it, but it worked and it was easy. And I knew I was going to smudge it anyway.

In Painter:
I added a layer, "pick up underlying color" selected on that layer. I started sampling different colors from the bride and painting "squiggly" lines all over the background. Used the grainy water blender brush at different opacity and sizes to smudge out the "squigglies" and the white border that I had added in Photoshop.

I used a small chalk brush to add color to the flowers and the veil. And still using the grainy water blender, I smudged them slightly. Did the same for the skin and the dress. When it was the way I wanted it, I saved it and brought it back into Photoshop.

In Photoshop, I added a new layer, picked a color that was darker than the dress, and got that brush I had saved earlier and brushed on some of that dress texture. I believe I set the layer to multipy at a low number.Sorry I can't remember exactly because I played with the layer settings until I got it the way I liked it.

I also decided I didn't like the colors of the painting, They were too muted for me, so I used Color Balance to bring out some brighter colors. I posted the muted painting below. After I changed the color balance, I did smudge here and there because I couldn't stop myself!

When I finished painting, I resized back down to 350ppi and saved.

I hope I helped you some! And sorry if I rambled on too much!

Cindy

[carseasoncity]

Originally Posted by cindy fuller

Thanks, Brandi!

In Photoshop:
I started out duplicating the image (never work on the original). I like to work on bigger photos, so I resized by upping the resolution. I usually set the resolution to 300 pixels/inch, because most of the time the photos posted online are at 72 pixels/inch. Yours was posted at 350, so I just doubled it to 700. I'm sure that's not the proper way to resize, but it works for me, and it's easy.

I knew I wanted to have some of the texture on the dress, so I selected a bit of the dress and saved it as a brush to use later.I duped the background layer. Then I went into levels and brightened the photo a bit. Used a layer mask to bring out the brighter colors where I wanted them by painting on the mask with black. Did the same for the for the darks. Flattened the photo. Added a 1-2 inch border of white by resizing the canvas.

Added a layer, painted with the backgound color on the photo, behind the bride to cover the tree, so when I flattened the image the tree was gone. Again, I know this probably wasn't the proper way to do it, but it worked and it was easy. And I knew I was going to smudge it anyway.

In Painter:
I added a layer, "pick up underlying color" selected on that layer. I started sampling different colors from the bride and painting "squiggly" lines all over the background. Used the grainy water blender brush at different opacity and sizes to smudge out the "squigglies" and the white border that I had added in Photoshop.

I used a small chalk brush to add color to the flowers and the veil. And still using the grainy water blender, I smudged them slightly. Did the same for the skin and the dress. When it was the way I wanted it, I saved it and brought it back into Photoshop.

In Photoshop, I added a new layer, picked a color that was darker than the dress, and got that brush I had saved earlier and brushed on some of that dress texture. I believe I set the layer to multipy at a low number.Sorry I can't remember exactly because I played with the layer settings until I got it the way I liked it.

I also decided I didn't like the colors of the painting, They were too muted for me, so I used Color Balance to bring out some brighter colors. I posted the muted painting below. After I changed the color balance, I did smudge here and there because I couldn't stop myself!

When I finished painting, I resized back down to 350ppi and saved.

I hope I helped you some! And sorry if I rambled on too much!

Cindy

Great! I'll try to do this myself when I'm finished editing the rest of the pictures. Thanks for the info.
Brandi

[byRo]

Many thanks to Brandi, for such a great image.

A big Welcome to RetouchPRO to Cindy.
What a way to start!! Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

I got sortta detoured and did an almost straight retouch.
The other is AHB, very sharpened and hard-light blended onto a coloured background.

Rô

[palms1]

Originally Posted by byRo

I got sortta detoured and did an almost straight retouch.

Rô

how did you do the skin please? was it your de grunge technique? I really like how it turned out almost a painting in itself

Palms