Halloween in January? sharing photos

maulrat · Jan 8, 2009

stsinner said:
Okay, so what's your, "Usual retouch processing?" Do you sharpen, unsharpen mask, etc... Let's have it...

Ok, here are my steps.

I preview my photos in Adobe Bridge.
I then double click my choice and the RAW automatically opens up in ACR (adobe camera raw)
Only adjustments I make here is exposure. If white balance is off, I first adjust my temp, then tint to my liking.
Don't forget to adjust size and resolution (if needed), then hit OPEN. Photo opens up in Adobe Photoshop. I use CS2.
Rotate and/or Crop as needed.
Resize; I use 800x533 @ 72ppi for web.
The Sigma 18-200mm OS has been doing a great job at producing sharp photos for me. If I must, I'll smart sharpen at 20%, 1 radius.
Make a new layer. I always keep my original layer untouched.
Add contrast layer
Add color balance layer and levels layer only if needed. You can always create these layers and mask out unwanted effects.
*Skin*
Create skin selection layer and dupe it.
Smooth bottom skin layer using Surface Blur. Tad overdoing it is okay. Can adjust opacity later.
Top Skin layer used for pores. Change layer blending mode to overlay. Apply high pass filter and adjust so that you bring out the pores. Usually around 2.5 or so.
Adjust smooth skin and pores layers opacity to get smooth effect, with right amount of pores.
*dodge & burn*
I use the non-destructive dodge and burn technique.
Make a blank layer. Then fill it with 50% grey. (shift+F5; choose 50% grey)
Set blending mode of D&B layer to soft light. Using a 5% flow, soft brush, paint black on this layer where you want to darken and white where you want to lighten. You can dodge and burn anywhere on the photo you see fit. Remember, a little overdoing it is okay because you can always change layer opacity to get it just right.
I usually gaussian blur my D&B layer for smooth transitions then adjust layer opacity mode to my liking.
*eyes*
If eyes aren't super dark brown, this effect works pretty good.

Create a blank layer. Using a hard, very small, white brush, paint around the iris just between the pupil and the outer edge of the iris. You should have a skinny white circle on the eye. Gaussian blur that layer and you should have a milky, cataracts looking eye. Now drop down layer opacity to bring a nice lighten of the iris. Add a layer mask to erase areas of unwanted effect from that layer.
Now I go back and make adjustments wherever needed.
Finally, I make a new layer and apply image. (cntl+alt+shift+e)
Add vignette if I want using distort filter; lens correction.
Add my signature and presto chango. That's all she wrote.

Whoa. That was the first time I explained my usual steps. Sorry so long. LoL. Yes... I'm crazy.

inTempus · Jan 9, 2009

Wow, you're a master of Photoshop. I'm going to have to get a book on it and really apply myself to learning how to do similar edits.

As for your hardware, I think your setup produces great results! I'm trying to decide between running up credit cards to buy L series lenses or checking out some of the Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens that gets stellar reviews. At $418 a copy it's close to the price of the Canon 17-40mm f/4L lens (within $200) but the Tamron has the 2.8 aperture.

Everything I've read about the Tamron says optically it's as good, if not better, than the Canon. Build is plastic of course and the auto-focus isn't as smooth or quiet... so I can't make up my damn mind.

Regardless, Sigma and Tamron... who cares. I think they're good lenses to learn with and apparently produce some professional looking results in the right hands.

manaheim · Jan 9, 2009

Check out Dr. Anesthesia on their main site under photoshoots.

Wow.

It's good to be a nerd.

stsinner · Jan 9, 2009

Hey, Maulrat, I, for one, really appreciate you taking the time to document your process for us. That was very nice of you, and not a quick type.

(I did a copy and paste into a Word document so I can study it and try it without having to dig for the thread..)

maulrat · Jan 9, 2009

stsinner said:
Hey, Maulrat, I, for one, really appreciate you taking the time to document your process for us. That was very nice of you, and not a quick type.

(I did a copy and paste into a Word document so I can study it and try it without having to dig for the thread..)

No problem at all. I'm, by far, no where near a photoshop wizard. I'm still a newbie and like everything else, I still have lots to learn. I always get mixed feelings in my processing. I just enjoy producing borderline photos between reality and perfection. Everyone has realistic photos and there are many highly skilled photographers out there, getting paid just to do that. But sometimes, it's nice to have a photo that glows... and that is what I try to give them.

"They-They need the water, and I likes to be the one that brings it to them." ***Bobby Boucher (the waterboy)

Feel free to PM me for links to some of my favorite retouching tutorials. I use bits and pieces of these techniques but they are great foundations for creating your own retouching style.