Post Process Practice Round 3: GIVE ME TIPS!

[JackRabbit]

Chrissy asked me to shoot with her so she came over and had a short little 45 minute studio session. Doesn't she look like Lindsay Lohan in her hot days before she went all lez/druggie?

I've really been working hard on getting my post process dialed in so this was just the continuation of that journey. Strobist was pretty simple. I dunno. I feel so unsatisfied with my work as of late. I have been idolizing Jaysen Turner's work which I feel like has really made me unsatisfied with what I've been doing. I dunno. Eventually I'll get that amazing skin that he gets.

ANYTHING that you think could make this photo better, please feel free to tell me

Strobist Info:
Photoflex Starflash 300 through softbox, above camera, 1/4 power

Here's what I did:
- Cloned out bra
- Evened out skin tones
- Removed bags under eyes
- Cloned in hair where it was gappy
- Removed all freckles
- Liquified face shape (on the left cheek)
- Facial contouring
- Dodged the hand
- Cloned out the veins in her eyes
- Liquified arm (made it smaller)
- Burned hand to even out tones
- Liquified eyebrow
Check the original size to see all the changes
Large shows them better too.

 

[YoMoe]

:hail::hail::hail::hail:WOW!!! This is fantastic you can't even tell it has been edited it looks so natural. I think you did a great job with it, especially the hair that must have been hard. The only tiny nit I can see is the hair right above where her bra strap was looks a tiny bit chopped but the only reason I noticed was that I was looking where her bra was, not sure if it would have been noticeable otherwise.

I'm just learning how to edit photos and still going way overboard. It is great to see an example of editing done right. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Robin Usagani]

I think her skin is still blotchy.. You can still go far without making it look plastic IMO. Keep going man.. nice job!

Also, you can liquify her armpit and straighten it (less curvey). There is nothing wrong with your model though.. then would even do this for Heidi Klum

 

[oldmacman]

Good stuff; gentle without being over done. Watch the hair strands where it curves meeting the closest shoulder. It looks like they have been clipped by a mask at some point. The hair where the bra used to be doesn't have any wispy ends like all the other strands.

 

[JackRabbit]

Hmmm good call on the hair by the bra strap. I forgot to add that back in once the bra was edited out. And her skin isn't really blotchy, it is extremely freckly.

@YoMoe - the best lesson I ever learned was NEVER use surface blur. Good editing TAKES TIME! I've probably put five hours into this photo. It takes a LOT of clone stamping and patch tool and dodging and burning. The key is to always work on separate layers so that if you don't like something, you can either tone down the opacity of it or go back and try again. Work with opacities of brushes and tools that are low and build on top of them. I never use an opacity higher than 60% on the clone stamp when I'm cleaning up skin. And then when you're working in eyes, 20%. Hair is pretty easy, just take large samples with your clone stamp and then on a blank separate layer, make it and then on a layer mask, erase areas where it doesn't need to be.

 

[Rekd]

You need to re-do where you cloned out the bra. It needs to look like the area above it with hair points at random spots instead of cut straight across like you just took a pair of scissors to it. I'd also try to change the color/shadow depth around the edge where the bra was removed. Now it looks almost fake.

 

[JackRabbit]

I think of it this way, if no one knew that the bra was there, they wouldn't be able to tell. The best thing to do would've been to have her take off the bra altogether but seeing that I'm only 17 and she was I think 16, that wasn't really an option.

 

[RL.]

I think of it this way, if no one knew that the bra was there, they wouldn't be able to tell. The best thing to do would've been to have her take off the bra altogether but seeing that I'm only 17 and she was I think 16, that wasn't really an option.

If she's only 16 she is not gonig to age well...anyway nice shot and pp work. I would even out the facial complexion a tad more, and her hand placement is awkward, it looks as if she's scratching an itch or something....

 

[Rekd]

I think of it this way, if no one knew that the bra was there, they wouldn't be able to tell.

So instead of fixing the flaws created by hasty edits you're going to tell people how to view your photos?

Really? :thumbdown:

 

[JackRabbit]

Hasty hahaha. Over 100 layers and six to seven hours isn't exactly what I call hasty.

And yeah I just found out that the girl is only 15

And I also just fixed the hair where the bra was cloned out so that should be a lot better now. I'll prolly upload that later on.

 

[Robin Usagani]

Jack.. what is your take with my comment about the arm pit?

 

[Rekd]

Hasty hahaha. Over 100 layers and six to seven hours isn't exactly what I call hasty.

And yeah I just found out that the girl is only 15

And I also just fixed the hair where the bra was cloned out so that should be a lot better now. I'll prolly upload that later on.

The edits you made to take out the bra look hasty. The point of this thread was to ask for advice. I gave you some and you basically told me it wouldn't be noticed instead of taking the advice for what it was.

Not a great way to encourage people to help you, IMO. :twak:

 

[JackRabbit]

I'm sorry. You're right. Yeah I will probably go over it again when I have a bit more time.

 

[Newnan3]

I think of it this way, if no one knew that the bra was there, they wouldn't be able to tell. The best thing to do would've been to have her take off the bra altogether but seeing that I'm only 17 and she was I think 16, that wasn't really an option.

her hand placement is awkward, it looks as if she's scratching an itch or something....

I hate when models do the face-touch poses.....She looks like she is scratching her face in an aggressive way like a meth addict would.

She has that sort of Bristol Palin-round face. She has a nice eye color though:thumbup:

 

[JackRabbit]

I just got a rollover up of this image on my site. Check it out and let me know what you think
Temecula Photographer | Jack Strutz Photography