Patchy/Blotchy Skin

[V1972]

Good morning! I was wondering if anyone could recommend a technique to smooth out and blend the skin in this shot, particularly the dark patch on the right side of the forehead. I don't care about how long it will take. I am more concerned about quality. What technique would a high end retoucher use to fix this while maintaining good skin texture?

Thank you.

[Wolfman]

Re: Patchy/Blotchy Skin

I know some people don't like the use of frequency separation but I quickly did this on the high frequency layer using the spot healing brush....I did it fast instead of taking my time....it could be better & it's not complete but it's to illustrate what this technique can do for you..

[V1972]

Re: Patchy/Blotchy Skin

That's actually pretty good! Did you use the mixer brush to do any blending or was it all done with the healing brush?
I definitely love using Freq Sep but I'm never really sure what I should set the initial blur amount to when I'm preparing the freq sep layers.

Thank you.

[Wolfman]

Re: Patchy/Blotchy Skin

I didn't use the mixer brush but before I used the spot healing brush on the high layer I selected the bad area on the low layer and did some selective blurring to smooth it out a little.

[Wolfman]

Re: Patchy/Blotchy Skin

Here's my image with some more smoothing on the low frequency layer. I selected areas with lasso tool at a 15px feather and added gaussian blur.

[Brianw]

Re: Patchy/Blotchy Skin

This technique is non destructive and uses an inverted high pass with some perhaps slightly complicated additional process to complete. Easily done it took about 1 1/2 minutes to complete.
If you use the FS method you will find issues that tend to look un-natural and destructive in your retouching process.

[gqsneezer]

Re: Patchy/Blotchy Skin

I know some people don't like the use of frequency separation but I quickly did this on the high frequency layer using the spot healing brush....I did it fast instead of taking my time....it could be better & it's not complete but it's to illustrate what this technique can do for you..

Out of curiosity why don't some people like using frequency separation? I've found it very useful but I'm relatively new to retouching so I may have not encountered instances where FS isn't necessarily the best approach. What other techniques would be better than using FS when dealing with skin retouching?

[klev]

Re: Patchy/Blotchy Skin

Out of curiosity why don't some people like using frequency separation? I've found it very useful but I'm relatively new to retouching so I may have not encountered instances where FS isn't necessarily the best approach. What other techniques would be better than using FS when dealing with skin retouching?

It adds to the file size, and it's more difficult to maintain a clean layer stack using FS. FS in itself has nothing to do with retouching of skin or other textured surfaces. Some people just like the division of data, but it's no less destructive than any other method. You can still destroy things such as texture if you aren't careful. I didn't personally find anything easier about it.

[Brianw]

Re: Patchy/Blotchy Skin

There is no simple one "fix all" solution. FS was not founded as an alternative solution to the hard work of creating a beautiful image. Each an every image is different and requires a certain approach to its end. And although there are dozens of ways to arrive to that end FS is just a certain technique that can be used if appropriate. The skill of a carpenter is much more than knowing what the hammer is but the many ways a hammer can be used for efficiency and practicality.

[priby]

Re: Patchy/Blotchy Skin

Hi Brian,

" Inverted High pass with some slightly complicated process " . Could you be kind enough to explain this Process for benefit of beginners ?.

[Tulack]

Re: Patchy/Blotchy Skin

Hi Brian,

" Inverted High pass with some slightly complicated process " . Could you be kind enough to explain this Process for benefit of beginners ?.

Here is IHP process.

https://vimeo.com/68360962

[chillin]

Re: Patchy/Blotchy Skin

I think frequency separation would be the best option