Super Simple Eye Enhancement

[matrix7]

Heya - this is one of my first posts here and I am not sure how things work yet so be patient :-)

I work for a professional photographer in Ohio so your site has been a Godsend to me. I have been doing retouching for years for fun but now that I am doing it professionally I wanted to take my work up to another level of professionalism and this site has helped tremendously.

Here is a retouch I did for one of the many seniors that we photograph. The zits I just used a standard clone brush and the eyes I did using the Dodge brush of all things set at a very low opacity (like maybe 7 or so) and with very soft edges. Take a swipe or two at the highlights then a quick swipe along the bottom and top and it really brings out the details in the eyes. Too much though and it looks like it changes the color (especially true with B&W or Sepia tone ones). We have had a few cases of "alien eyes" come back from the color lab because it would enhance the effect a little more than the screen did hahaha but for the most part we have had very good success with this method.

Total time involved in this one = about 8 minutes maybe (Zits and all)

By The Way I use Paint Shop Pro 8 for almost all my work - I know Photoshop is way more powerful and all but I have been with PSP since version 3 or 4 and it just seems more intuitive to me for some reason :-)

Any comments?

(One more thing - The reason I did not smooth his face more is the last retoucher did TOO much and his face looked unrealistic and they requested that we ease off the retouch a little).

Picture is copyright Shawn Richendollar Photography 2005

[Craig Walters]

hi matrix,

so, is there a question here somewhere? did you want a critique? and if it's a critque you're looking for, best to use the 'Critique' forum. you'll get more responses.

nice job. i do like the eye treatment. normally on eyes i just mask and sharpen the masked part, so, you're already teaching me

you want to be a little careful with the clone. you got rid of the blemishes fine, but you left a bit of splotchiness here and there (dont ya just love these high tech terms). when you clone, you want to keep the opacity fairly medium to start and just dab, dab, dab. then, set the opacity lower, like in the 20's or low 30's and smooth out your edges and any obvious patterns. if you use smudge to smooth over a clone, you'll likely get the infamous 'plastic/pasty' look. there are times when you can use a streaking clone, but this isnt one of them. so, dab, dab, dab and feather. oh, and set your 'hardness' down to something like 75 or so. this will help you avoid overruning edges at times. also with clone, if you have a pretty tricky area, pull from different sides to the target so you get a mix of the surrounding areas. normally one side will be dominant and the one you really want to clone from, but dont be afraid to mix and match a bit, pulling from other areas into one target area.

k, back to you.

Craig

[Caitlin]

Sorry to go totally OT - but I've seen referrence to 'senior photos' a few times now, and after first off thinking when I found it as a link on a retouchers site that it was a euphamism for soft porn *lol*, I figured out these are high school students. What is the tradition going on here of having photos taken? What are they used for?

[Craig Walters]

caitlin,

when i was in school we had our pictures taken at school almost every year. senior year was probably the most important one, however. it was mostly a vanity thing or something for parents. i dont recall ever really using school pics for anything really practical. they were also used for yearbooks. and, the parents generally loved them and they were also fun to exchange with others and it probably employed more photographers second only to wedding pics i even have some of my old ones... mother saved EVERYTHING.

Craig

[Caitlin]

I see - sounds like a much fancier version of the system here in Australia. In Australian schools there is a 'school photo day' where a school photographer comes in and does one head shot of each student, and one of the class. But bearing in mind we wear uniforms in Australia, they are far more utilitarian affairs - certainly nothing glamourous about them - and certainly no zit removal!

[Craig Walters]

caitlin,

here's a picture of me near the end of my senior year (1968), un-retouched, straight off the scanner. i was going for that 'thoughtful' look at the time

Craig

[Craig Walters]

caitlin,

well, i've no idea if they were retouching those back then. sounds like they might be now.

Craig

[Caitlin]

What a hansome fellow! Despite currently having the entire photographic history of my family scattered around me, I can't actually lay my hands on a head shot - but attached is one of the class photos we got. I think you can probably pick me based on my avatar

[Craig Walters]

caitlin,

why thank you!

yup, we sometimes had class photos too, but mostly just singles.

you're in the top row, right? (3rd from the left on the bottom?)

Craig

[matrix7]

hahaha - Why it is unfortunately true that a lot of photographer do take the opportunity of Senior portraits to take as many pics of scantily clad girls as possible my boss is one of the exceptions and won't even do any swimsuit photography. All of his pics are in good taste (on reason I work for him).

What Kraellin said is basically true - it is a vanity thing really. The moms and dads want professional portraits to remember their child's high school years. Since it is their senior year too they have three years worth of trophies and such to bring and pose with. They get a lot of wallets too so they can trade them with friends and mail in Christmas cards.

Funny - I always just assumed other countries did similar things to us on things like this. That's why i love speaking to somebody "across the pond" as it gives one a view of how different the world really is.

I guess I was asking for a critique - sorry this was the wrong forum :-) As far as masking goes I know this is going to seem blasphemous but *looks around and leans close* I don't know how to use the mask function *horror music plays, women and children scream and a lone duck quacks in the distance*

Where did that duck come from...

I know it is something I need to learn quick but I don't have a whole lot of time to learn new things currently. Hopefully in a month or two I can start again on the tutorials and really dig into the forums here to expand my knowledge.

Thanks for the replies - I will try to take a closer look at the forums before I post next time :-)

[Craig Walters]

you're welcome

Craig

[Caitlin]

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity guys! I suspect this is one of those 'only in America' traditions. The photos taken in schools here - including our final year, are very much in the passport mugshot tradition

Now masking - that's one of those things Matrix that once you've leaned you'll wonder how you ever did without it. And in fact it's a very fast study as well. Just do a quick google search and you'll have it down pat within 1/2 and hour.


Duck courtesy my favourite cartoonist - Leunig.

[Cassidy]

am inclined to disagree, reckon a mask a day keeps the worries away

[raniday]

This is an interesting thread you've started, Matrix
I wouldn't have thought you could do so much to the eyes with the dodge tool. They look great!
I'm totally out of the loop with high school seniors, and I didn't know about the scantily clad photos. I did know they're getting more artsy. We had 3 poses for senior photos, cap & gown, some sort of feather wrap (around the girls ), and street clothes.
And Caitlin and Craig have revealed themselves in their younger years. Hey, I think it would be fun to start a thread (if there isn't one already) where members post photos of themselves from the younger days, and we might even enhance and artify them. (Craig you were/are very handsome)

[Craig Walters]

thanks cat i now sport a chronic moustache and a few more lines, but i'm still the prettiest one in the family

Hey, I think it would be fun to start a thread (if there isn't one already) where members post photos of themselves from the younger days, and we might even enhance and artify them.

i think that's a great idea, cat! so, you're next!

Craig