I think I'm getting it.

[redessa]

I've been working on how to edit skin tones. Well, the first priority is doing a better job of getting it right in camera, but we all know that doesn't always happen and some lighting situations are tougher than others. So I've been researching and studying and practicing for how to correct in ACR and photoshop and this is the first one I'm feeling good about. Thoughts?


beforeandafterTOPANDBOTTOM

 

[MLeeK]

The second is rather yellow where the first is VERY magenta. Definitely a huge improvement over the original color!

 

[redessa]

The second is rather yellow where the first is VERY magenta. Definitely a huge improvement over the original color!

Hmmmm.... I was thinking the edit looked yellow too but my info palette shows the yellow being pretty even with the magenta or just a couple of percentage points higher in some areas (which is where it supposedly should be). So I don't know quite what to think.

 

[redessa]

So what if I cool it down a bit? Is this better - still too yellow?


IMG_1048cool

 

[Ysarex]

So what if I cool it down a bit? Is this better - still too yellow?

You had it right first time. The skin tones in the second image of your original post are dead on -- you nailed it.

You said you felt good about it -- :thumbup:

Joe

 

[Montreal]

The last edit looks the best, IMO. Care to share your methods?

 

[redessa]

Care to share your methods?

I first did a hue/saturation adjustment using the method on Lee Varis's turtorial page. Then I did several small curves adjustments, masking off for his hand vs her hand since they needed different fine tuning adjustments. And an inverted high pass using the soft light blending mode for a touch of smoothing. Oh and another curves layer for overall brightening.

Almost forgot, I also did a regular (non-inverted) high pass on hard light just on her ring. And then there was overall sharpening/resizing for hte web. I have an action that does that for me.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Sounds very complicated. You should only need to use 2 sliders... White Balance and Tint. I hope you shot in RAW.

Care to share your methods?

I first did a hue/saturation adjustment using the method on Lee Varis's turtorial page. Then I did several small curves adjustments, masking off for his hand vs her hand since they needed different fine tuning adjustments. And an inverted high pass using the soft light blending mode for a touch of smoothing. Oh and another curves layer for overall brightening.

Almost forgot, I also did a regular (non-inverted) high pass on hard light just on her ring. And then there was overall sharpening/resizing for hte web. I have an action that does that for me.

 

[redessa]

Sounds very complicated. You should only need to use 2 sliders... White Balance and Tint. I hope you shot in RAW.

Care to share your methods?

I first did a hue/saturation adjustment using the method on Lee Varis's turtorial page. Then I did several small curves adjustments, masking off for his hand vs her hand since they needed different fine tuning adjustments. And an inverted high pass using the soft light blending mode for a touch of smoothing. Oh and another curves layer for overall brightening.

Almost forgot, I also did a regular (non-inverted) high pass on hard light just on her ring. And then there was overall sharpening/resizing for hte web. I have an action that does that for me.

Funny you should mention that because yes, I do shoot in raw and was just thinking this morning that I should go back to the original and play around with those sliders to see if I could accomplish the same thing. (Not that this is some great photo worth saving, I'm just finding it to be a good challenge to work on.) I can get her hand to look very much like my original edit, maybe better, but his still looks awful. I've been using the HSL sliders as well to try and find a good balance but I do not posess the skills to get both their hands looking right in ACR. But I suppose if I can get even one looking good in raw, it just saves me that much work in photoshop.

As for my previous edit being complicated, it really wasn't. I masked off her hand the one time and just duplicated the layer mask for my edits on him and then inverted it for what I wanted to do on just her. It was several small adjustments but nothing particulary difficult.

So here's what the completely original, no edits at all, raw file looks likes and the "raw only" edit - I've used the white balance and tint sliders, increased the exposure and monkeyed with HSL sliders. I think her hand looks just fine (at least it doesn't look like she's been swimming in carrot juice anymore) but there's still way too much cyan in his hand.


rawhandedits

 

[Robin Usagani]

Anytime you have to bring your image to photoshop, that is an extra step. Imagine if you have 500 images to go trough for a wedding. I am positive you can correct it only via Lightroom globally or maybe use adjustment brush. The last photo you posted look fine, maybe just a hint of warmer WB should do it.

 

[redessa]

Ha,ha,ha! Oh I know good and well I'm not ready for weddings yet! Unless maybe it was a broke family member and I shot it for free. My editing process is far too slow for me to consider taking on paying clients for something that big. But I'm learning and getting better and faster and finding shortcuts along the way. I'm sure I'll get there. And I do appreciate the advice, I'm always happy to learn what I can do to streamline the workflow and get a better end result.