Lesson of the week

[VincentPaul]

What he said^^^^^. Inquiring minds wonder.

Check my answer above

 

[smoke665]

@VincentPaul I think Astros and Gary were trying to get you to think beyond your initial excitement, to how this process might fit your workflow and how it can be expanded to include just about every editing function available in PS. For example it could be used as part of a selective sharpening process, or by using the curve layer adjustment in conjunction with frequency channels you can drill down and adjust color and Luminosity of your shadows, highlights, or midtones individually. Skin softening is only a small part of what's possible.

Obviously can't speak for everyone but I suspect that anyone who's spent some time in PS is familiar with the process. I will admit there was a sense of wonderment when I first learned. However, I also learned that as with anything, there are always better mousetraps. If you have PS then I'm assuming you have LR. I would highly suggest that you spend some time learning LR, because once you do you'll find less use for PS. In your above example, the skin softening retouching is easily done with an adjustment brush in LR. The advantage is that adjustments made in LR are faster, are none destructive as opposed to PS, and the file size of the edit is a whole lot less. Changing your mind is a breeze.

Will LR replace PS - not at my skill level. I had to pull out the PS tool box on an edit of an orchid recently that needed a makeover, but I'm finding it less and less necessary.

 

[VincentPaul]

@VincentPaul I think Astros and Gary were trying to get you to think beyond your initial excitement, to how this process might fit your workflow and how it can be expanded to include just about every editing function available in PS. For example it could be used as part of a selective sharpening process, or by using the curve layer adjustment in conjunction with frequency channels you can drill down and adjust color and Luminosity of your shadows, highlights, or midtones individually. Skin softening is only a small part of what's possible.

Obviously can't speak for everyone but I suspect that anyone who's spent some time in PS is familiar with the process. I will admit there was a sense of wonderment when I first learned. However, I also learned that as with anything, there are always better mousetraps. If you have PS then I'm assuming you have LR. I would highly suggest that you spend some time learning LR, because once you do you'll find less use for PS. In your above example, the skin softening retouching is easily done with an adjustment brush in LR. The advantage is that adjustments made in LR are faster, are none destructive as opposed to PS, and the file size of the edit is a whole lot less. Changing your mind is a breeze.

Will LR replace PS - not at my skill level. I had to pull out the PS tool box on an edit of an orchid recently that needed a makeover, but I'm finding it less and less necessary.

Very good points. As of now yes I would say my main attention has been on what it can do for my edits as it relates to what I mentioned before. I hadn't thought of Astros question in the way you pointed but thanks for pointing that out, I'll remember that when the occassions arrive as I'm sure the possibilities with FS are endless.
I'm familiar with LR but for now I'll say the process of editing skin in a way that retains the most detailed has been intriguing to me. Essentially wether it is accomplished in PS or LR I'm excited to have given this technique more consideration, I'm much please with the results versus how I was doing it in the past.
I have experimented with alternatives to this in LR and I will agree it is much better considering I don't have to shift between programs.
For me it's important right now & going forward because I want to get better with portraits and hopefully eventually do more high fashion shoots where this will be useful to me.

Thanks again for your feedback, I'm always open to learning new things.

 

[astroNikon]

@VincentPaul I think Astros and Gary were trying to get you to think beyond your initial excitement, to how this process might fit your workflow and how it can be expanded to include just about every editing function available in PS.

Precisely. I was hoping for more information on what the OP learned. As newbies can run across the thread and learn something.

One may also use specific lenses which create much more creaminess in the subject. For instance a new Nikon 85/1.8G lens is tack sharp. So it shows all the blemishes, etc. But an 85/1.4 AF-D lens smooths out those blemishes. So SOOC the images on the AF-D are preferred over the G lens for single portraiture.

And of course lighting can come into play too in helping in this scenario. I'm just now getting into using a Beauty Dish ... a lot to learn on one specific lighting tool.

 

[smoke665]

@astroNikon Yup. Noobs can be overwhelmed at how cool Frequency Separations work - I was. It's magical to the point that you lose focus on the what, where and how to use it in a workflow. Thanks to the patient counseling of others on TPF, I learned to use it for what it is a tool in the box.

 

[dcbear78]

Frequency Separation.... Sure fire way to take a human being and turn them into a plastic doll when done poorly, which seems to be most of the time.

The noobs think they have become professionals after downloading the Phlearn action. When the true high end retouchers don't use this technique for skin retouching.

 

[DanOstergren]

I was excited when I initially learned the technique and gave it a few tries. In my experience, I prefer good old fashion Dodge and Burn for clearing up the skin. It takes a bit more work, but the results are more controlled and much more natural looking to me, and honestly you can avoid much of the retouching simply by getting the lighting right at the moment of exposure. To me, frequency separation is a shortcut that often leaves evidence of editing. I hate when I look at a photo and can tell the skin was retouched.