Great looking skin

[texassand]

How do I achieve this? It seems that when I take pics, my subjects skin always shows every freckle, wrinkle, discoloration, etc. . Even with natural lighting it will show up this way. And there is always bags under the eyes. But I want skin to show up "creamy" and flawless. How can I achieve this look? What tool would I use in Photoshop Elements? Or is this something that can be achieved in the origional picture?

Thank you!

 

[markc]

Soft, diffuse light will go a long way without having to resort to editing. If you are converting to b&w, go heavy on the red channel, though I don't know if elements has the channel mixer.

 

[Big Mike]

As Mark said, good lighting will go a long way.

If you are trying to compare your shots to magazine shots...those have all be edited...probably heavily edited. Do a Google search for 'photoshop skin' and you will have more sites than you can shake a stick at. There are many, many techniques. You may want to include 'elements' into the search...just to make it easier when you try to follow the tutorials.

 

[Puscas]

and think about make up. no ones skin is perfect, don't expect the light to do all the work for you.



pascal

 

[markc]

and think about make up. no ones skin is perfect, don't expect the light to do all the work for you.



pascal

Good point. A good MUA (make up artist) is gold.

 

[texassand]

Ok so lighting is a big part. Do any of you use any certain tool in photoshop elements to improve skin (not just tone but giving it that "creamy" look)?

 

[Digital Matt]

Use the clone tool to remove blemishes. Duplicate the background layer, run a gaussian blur on it, and lower the opacity. Since you can't use layer masks in Elements, you'll have to use the eraser tool, and erase all parts of this blurred layer except the areas of skin you want softened.

 

[fmw]

Another approach is to use a soft filter. These are filters that provide a soft focus look while still allowing the subject to be in sharp focus. I assume the Photoshop filter Matt recommended does essentially the same thing.