Photoshop Portrait retouching class's/tutorial

[Missy.a.Wilson]

i can do some simple retouching in Photoshop from what I've learned on video tutorials and such. Photoshop is still somewhat intimidating to me. I don't completely understand some of the lingo and techniques, "work flow" order, and things like masks and layers. Can anyone suggest a good class/tutorial/workshop that really dives into the "how to's" on portrait retouching? Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[Buckster]

How to work Photoshop and how to do portrait retouching, while related, are two very different things, and you generally need a good working knowledge of the first to get into the second.

I learned the first on Lynda.com watching instructor Deke McClellands first series of Photoshop One-on-One classes many years ago from the beginning classes to the mastery classes, and it really, REALLY worked great for me. I see he's updated the series with each new version of Photoshop since. Just like school, it starts off with the fundamentals and then uses them as a foundation to build upon, up and up and up until you've got a really good understanding of all the tools and techniques to use and how.

A lot of people recommend just watching Youtube videos, but to me, that was a shotgun approach that didn't provide a logical order to learn in. So many techniques require prior knowledge of tools and techniques to do them, that you need that prior knowledge first. With a real photoshop class, you get that training directions from beginning to end. With Youtube, you don't.

Once you get really familiar with the tools and techniques, you can learn how to use those tools and techniques to specifically do portrait retouching, and for that I recommend Phlearn.com and guru Aaron Nace.

 

[MRnats]

I love using this tutorial. It's a 2 part-er . Also like Buckster said, the Phlearn tutorials have also been super at teaching me new things. I've read through the comments on some of the Phlearn videos that he goes kinda fast. I'm guessing that's from PS newcomers. If you are new to PS then maybe you'll have this issue. I think his speed is perfect and effective.

 

[JacaRanda]

I vote for Lynda.com also. Deke McClelland and Chris Orwig do a wonderful job.

 

[KmH]

It really helps if you know what tools, tool options, features, and capabilities Photoshop has.
A great reference book is -
Adobe Photoshop CC for Photographers, 2014 Release: A professional image editor's guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC

You could spend 10,000 hours watching online videos and only see and hear about a fraction of the stuff in Martin Evenings Photoshop book.
A good book from Scott Kelby: Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop (Voices That Matter)