@DanOstergren just to tell you a huge thank you!
I've downloaded tiff file and I saw what you've done. It's great! I hope I'll figure out how to edit. What's your settings for the brush when dodging and burning?
I'll give you a detailed response later, because I need to go now... just wanted you to know that I'm really grateful for the thoughts and the edit. I hope I can replicate it.
I was trying to fix bags under his eyes but I couldn't do that entirely because I don't understand how to change their tones or what else..
To dodge and burn, I create a new layer above a background and background copy layer by clicking "Layer>New Layer" in the menu bar. Before exiting the dialogue box for creating a new layer, I set the layer color to "gray", the layer mode to "soft light", and check the box that says "Fill with soft light neutral color (50% gray). Once I create the layer, I duplicate it a few times and name each gray layer for their different purposes ("skin", "contour", "hair", "eyes", "arms", background", or whatever part of an image I may be selectively dodging or burning).
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These dodge and burn layers should be above your background/background copy layers, and below your adjustment layers and masks. These are the layers I dodge and burn on; because I'm dodging on these separate layers, I'm causing no damage to the actual image layer. Use the dodge tool, usually set to "Midtones" with the exposure usually set between 2% and 10% for cleaning up the skin and softening skin gradients. Use the dodge tool set to the "Highlights" range in order to sculpt the face by making the highlights a little brighter, and use the burn tool set to the "shadows" range in order to carve out facial features a bit. Use the dodge tool set to "highlights" in order to bring out detail in the highlights of the models hair, or their clothing, or their eyes. Just make sure that you are making these changes on separate layers, that way you can selectively control the amount of each different adjustment by adjusting the opacity of the different layers.
If you need to selectively change the color of a certain spot of skin or whatever else, create a Selective Color adjustment layer:
Click on the white square (the layer mask) that is attached to your new adjustment layer. This will show a dialogue box like this:
Click "Invert". This will turn the layer mask's color to black. Next, select the paint brush tool and set the color to white, the opacity of the brush to %15, and make sure that the brush has a feathered edge. Make sure you click on the layer mask on your Color Balance adjustment layer to make sure it's selected, and then paint over the spot on the image that needs correcting, in this case the green area under the model's chin.
After you do this, click the layer thumbnail on the left side of the layer to bring up the dialogue box that controls the effect of the adjustment layer:
This control panel should appear:
Use the sliders to manipulate the color tones. It should just barely be affecting the area that you painted over on the layer mask.
I used the same technique to correct certain areas of his hair:
Before hair color correction:
http://orig15.deviantart.net/bcd5/f..._30_at_6_55_11_am_by_danostergren-da0vgxm.png
After correction:
http://orig06.deviantart.net/6576/f..._30_at_6_55_01_am_by_danostergren-da0vgxu.png
I hope I explained this in a way that you can follow (actually watching someone do this makes it much easier to understand). You can use this same inverted layer mask technique with hue/saturation adjustment layers to selectively saturate and reduce saturation of different areas of the image; this is important to know because dodging and burning can sometimes saturate and desaturate the areas affected, and using two Hue/Saturation adjustment layers (one to increase saturation and one to decrease it) with an inverted layer mask is an easy way to selectively correct this. You can also use the inverted layer mask technique with a curves, exposure or levels adjustment layer in order to selectively manipulate the exposure in the selected areas of the image. It's an incredibly useful technique for retouching, but like any technique it needs to be practiced and refined.
Also, are you sharpening your portraits? If not, I can show you a great technique for that as well.
(besides me, and I've just seen that Leonore liked this... that makes three of us)
