Portrait processing.

[ronlane]

It's been a week of learning new PS techniques, so I used some old portrait images to work on them.

1) Cosplay character from a photowalk last year.

2) Model at a FujuFilm GFX event. (Shot with the GFX100

 

[smoke665]

Very nice Ron! Did some of those new techniques include adding skin textures?

 

[Jeff15]

All looks good to me.....

 

[ronlane]

Very nice Ron! Did some of those new techniques include adding skin textures?

Thank you. Not adding skin texture. I did frequency separation to the skin removing the blemishes and smoothing the skin tones. One of the new techniques was adding curves layers to the cheek area to add depth to the face.

All looks good to me.....

Thank you,.

 

[smoke665]

One of the new techniques was adding curves layers to the cheek area to add depth to the face.

I dont really have an absolute favorite method. Part of it depends on how big of a hurry I'm in. I've used curves, D&B with a 50% gray layer, white and black paint brush, and curves with luminosity masks to enhance micro contrast. They all have their place.

One thing to be aware of is that once you edit the skin, you need to consider all the skin. The first has a nice uniform appearance. The second there's a noticeable difference between the face and neck, which made me wonder if you'd added texture. In her case I'd probably use a little texture on neck to tie in with face. I keep a library of various skin textures for blending.

 

[JBPhotog]

There are numerous methods for retouching but I agree with @smoke665 when other parts of the skin are shown they deserve some attention too. The contrast of unretouched and retouched skin can be the telltale that people pick up on.

One method I like for moles or birth marks is the healing brush to clone from a good area then fade the effect Shift+Command+F (MacOS) and set the percent so it shows but is less prominent.

 

[smoke665]

@JBPhotog I've used a lot of different methods for fading effects from gradients to opacity to blending modes, even using shape dynamics on the brush tip to fade it out, but this is new one on me. Are you talking about PS???

 

[JBPhotog]

@JBPhotog I've used a lot of different methods for fading effects from gradients to opacity to blending modes, even using shape dynamics on the brush tip to fade it out, but this is new one on me. Are you talking about PS???

Yes, this is found under the Edit Menu in PS labeled as 'Fade'. This command can be used for any clone tool effect and lets you walk back via a visual preview as to what suits your edit. You can either use the percent slider or the number keyboard(my preferred method) to dial in the fade.

Before fade of mole:

After 70% fade:

 

[smoke665]

@JBPhotog interesting thanks for the tip, I think I might be able to incorporate that in my skin editing process. Currently I separate color and details on separate layers using a frequency separation. I've been using layer opacity or tool opacity on the detail layer to adjust the effect, which works the same, though maybe not the same flexibility of adjustment.

 

[JBPhotog]

@smoke665 I do the same with FS and retouch each layer with different tools. The benefit of the Fade command is you can put all of your edits on one layer and independently adjust their opacity as you edit rather than affect the entire layer with a global adjustment.

 

[smoke665]

The benefit of the Fade command is you can put all of your edits on one layer and independently adjust their opacity as you edit rather than affect the entire layer with a global adjustment.

Yes I'd agree, but reducing layers by combining edits is a double edge sword. On the one hand it reduces the file size and in some cases is faster, but on the other, makes it more difficult to undo or change later. It's a situation with no definitive answer, rather it's dependent on the image and the edits required. Many times I find it quicker and easier to address a blemish in the D&B layer/layers. As blemishes are one dimensional that show up because of highlight and shadows, the advantage there is you're not moving texture just decreasing or increasing light on the blemish to hide it.

Sorry @ronlane didn't mean to get off on a tangent. In your processing journey, have you tried using the Texturizer filter on a 50% gray layer set to Overlay or Soft Light. Sandstone is one of the preloaded textures that works well on skin, but I also have a library of custom files that I go to occasionally. The advantage of the TF over emboss is it gives you direction control of the light.

Edit: sorry should have mentioned that the TF filter is in the filter gallery which is only available with an 8 bit image. If you want to edit in 16 bit you have no choice but to use the emboss method.

 

[ronlane]

No worries. I think we have a good dialogue going on here about different ways to process and this will help a lot of people.

I have read about a number of ways to do blemish removable. Some work great and others not so much. One that I have tried is very similar to what you are saying with the D&B layer is to remove the "shadow" caused by the blemish. By doing this, you keep the texture but it minimizes the blemish and makes it look "flatter".

What I find fascinating with PS is that there are what seems like 100's of ways to do the same thing. I enjoy digging in and learning and trying to understand different ideas. Personally, I have learned how to do FS from scratch and I have at least 2-3 actions from different people for it. One of these is an action from a very well known retoucher from the East Coast and the action does everything and adds a ton of layers. The one that I currently like to use is uses the texture layer to fix blemishes and then the color mixer brush to even out skin tones.

At this time, I have really taken to using this one and the mixer brush and have added a technique to "dodge & burn" using curves on the cheeks to give the highlights and shadows to simulate the blush and makeup.

For me, these work and I keep tweaking and learning. My suggestion for others that are reading this is to search these ideas and even watch videos on these subjects and make up your own mind as to what works for you and how you want your images to look.

 

[JBPhotog]

The benefit of the Fade command is you can put all of your edits on one layer and independently adjust their opacity as you edit rather than affect the entire layer with a global adjustment.

Yes I'd agree, but reducing layers by combining edits is a double edge sword. On the one hand it reduces the file size and in some cases is faster, but on the other, makes it more difficult to undo or change later. It's a situation with no definitive answer, rather it's dependent on the image and the edits required. Many times I find it quicker and easier to address a blemish in the D&B layer/layers. As blemishes are one dimensional that show up because of highlight and shadows, the advantage there is you're not moving texture just decreasing or increasing light on the blemish to hide it.

Sorry @ronlane didn't mean to get off on a tangent. In your processing journey, have you tried using the Texturizer filter on a 50% gray layer set to Overlay or Soft Light. Sandstone is one of the preloaded textures that works well on skin, but I also have a library of custom files that I go to occasionally. The advantage of the TF over emboss is it gives you direction control of the light.

Keep in mind I’m not suggesting “every” edit go on one layer but if one is working on similar clones they can be done on the same layer. Every image is unique and checking if the actual blemish skin texture is different from surrounding skin is one of those decisions the editor has to make.