Learning to Retouch; Attack!

[maulrat]

Time to learn retouching. My first attempt.

ORIGINAL w/quickie adjustments in CS2

1st Retouching Attempt using CS2

 

[tirediron]

For a first effort, I'd say you've done very well. The only area that stands out is the eyelashes. Unfortunately, they look [to me] rather like those that are painted on children's dolls.

 

[Royal Photos]

Personally, I dislike retouched photos, no matter how hard they try the person always looks fake and I respect a real photo flaws and all (on your subject).

However, skillwise all looks good except those eyelashes.

 

[maulrat]

The only area that stands out is the eyelashes. Unfortunately, they look [to me] rather like those that are painted on children's dolls.

Yeah, they were very painted on as you can tell. Perhaps I can add a drop shadow to make them look a little more real. Eyelashes are a toughie.

 

[maulrat]

... However, skillwise all looks good except those eyelashes.

Yeah, it looks a lot better at the original 240 dpi vs web 72 dpi. I shall make some corrections or erase them all together.

 

[maulrat]

Having another go at it. This next one, I added in a drop shadow to the eye lashes, added some eye shadow, and upped the dpi. The second photo is a more up-close of the eyes. Yes, they are fake lashes of course, but they look a little more real on the original prior to sizing down.

 

[cviste]

honest. originaal looks better.
becauseher face is in natural light.
looks good to me.

 

[Dubious Drewski]

I don't understand what was wrong with the original photo. She is beautiful; and so any and all changes will logically push her further away from that and into "plastic doll" territory.

My philosophy is to keep it as natural as possible, only helping out if it really is necessary.

 

[Syndac]

I don't think a lot of people understand why touching up photos may be necessary and why it's important to practice on photos whether they need it or not. I do photography as a hobby and I've had quite a few people ask for changes on portrait shots.

I think you did a pretty good job, I especially like the lightening of the eyes. While they may not be her natural color, they still appear to be real which is often a more difficult area to master. I too am not a fan of fake eyebrows but that's more the model's fault than yours.

 

[cviste]

not saying its a bad job of editing.

but.. natural lighting is alwaysbest..

 

[Zansho]

not saying its a bad job of editing.

but.. natural lighting is alwaysbest..

Correction. GOOD lighting is always best. Natural light doesn't trump everything - you can get excellent results using natural light, strobes, continuous lighting, stage lights.

As for the edit, I agree with the others. The eyelashes look way too fake. I'd have done a natural curvature of the eyelashes, and enhanced what she already had there.

 

[maulrat]

I'd have done a natural curvature of the eyelashes, and enhanced what she already had there.

Her eye lashes are very short. So you're saying I should remove the fake lashes, then try to extend and thicken her own lashes? Perhaps this will give me more control over the directional curve of each lash. Yup, I'm in for a lot of work. I should take some time out to study real lashes before attempting this. Thanks, Zansho.

As for the many people who prefer the more natural look, I do too like natural as well. But sometimes, I get requests for some borderline fake/natural touch ups so the model can get one of those "straight out of the magazine" look.

 

[manaheim]

I think if you were going to try to add eyelashes that you might want to try to copy someone else's eyelashes out of another photo and graft them on... beyond that, I think she doesn't have visibly long eyelashes and shouldn't have them added in post processing, as it wouldn't look like her.

Overall (aside from the lashes) I think you did a good job with the touchup... I think you were a LITTLE heavy-handed and I might tone it back a bit, but the result was pretty believable.

 

[Dubious Drewski]

I don't think you did a bad job with the touch up, really. The only complaint I have is that it's too obvious that she was photoshopped. What I mean is, it really sticks out when you look at the photo. If you could do that sort of touchup, but keep it subtle, then you'd have an excellent photo.

Take a look at this shot, for instance:
Closeup
and
Extreme Closeuphttp://www.flickr.com/photos/dubiousdrewski/2545290051/sizes/m/

This photo was touched up quite a bit, but could you tell me where or how? Likely not. She's beautiful and the photo conveys that without covering up her face with a mask. Remember, imperfections can be beautiful too.