Computer Graphics with Photoshop - Editing portraits using CS2

Author

Editing portraits using CS2

ronviers@gmail.com

2006-07-10, 6:17 pm

Hi,
It was not easy but I have finally aquired my CS2. My clientele
necessitate certain editing techniques that I would like to learn and
adopt early and throughout my Photoshop training.
Most of my portraiture clients are older and female. Typically they
have been lifelong smokers with an unending battle with sobriety. This
lifestyle has left them with complexions that benefit from makeup,
however, they are almost invariably without access to the relatively
high quality makeup one would find at Walgreen's or Wal-mart, nor with
their typically liberal and undiscerning application strategy would
this be money well spent anyway. That is not to say that they do not
wear copious amounts of makeup, just that the source is usually the
local Dollar store. I am able to conceal or otherwise distract from
most most chins and many other culturally undesirable facial curves
with lighting and poses, but what I need now are tips and tricks I can
use in Photoshop that will allow me to really bring out the true beauty
of these women. They deserve special treatment because not only are
they hard working, kind and usually mothers, but they will be giving me
a larger portion of their revenue than most clients other photographers
concentrate on. Any information, either first hand or links to
tutorials would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ron

2006-07-10, 6:17 pm

<ronviers@XXXXXXXXXX> wrote in message
news:1150384881.094645.55410@f6g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

> [...] Most of my portraiture clients are older and female. Typically they
> have been lifelong smokers with an unending battle with sobriety.

> [...] what I need now are tips and tricks I can
> use in Photoshop that will allow me to really bring out the true beauty
> of these women. They deserve special treatment because not only are
> they hard working, kind and usually mothers, but they will be giving me
> a larger portion of their revenue than most clients other photographers
> concentrate on. [...]

I humbly suggest you do as much as you can in-camera. Soft portraiture is an
age-old art with a great number of resources. It was rarely done very well,
but when done right it was amazing. They used very little post-photo
touchup. You shouldn't have to Photoshop much at all. Period.

Here's the beginning trick - find a true portrait lens. Soft imaging is not
simply 'fuzzy'. A true portrait lens exploits intentional, variable
spherical aberration in three spatial dimensions. One cannot possibly
replicate excellent soft work in Photoshop because Photoshop has no
knowledge of the dimensions.

Then, of course, there's correct lighting - another thing CS cannot create.

If you wish to pursue such an approach, we could go to the more appropriate
group.

ronviers@gmail.com

2006-07-10, 6:17 pm

2 wrote:
> <ronviers@XXXXXXXXXX> wrote in message
> news:1150384881.094645.55410@f6g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> I humbly suggest you do as much as you can in-camera. Soft portraiture is an
> age-old art with a great number of resources. It was rarely done very well,
> but when done right it was amazing. They used very little post-photo
> touchup. You shouldn't have to Photoshop much at all. Period.
>
> Here's the beginning trick - find a true portrait lens. Soft imaging is not
> simply 'fuzzy'. A true portrait lens exploits intentional, variable
> spherical aberration in three spatial dimensions. One cannot possibly
> replicate excellent soft work in Photoshop because Photoshop has no
> knowledge of the dimensions.
>
> Then, of course, there's correct lighting - another thing CS cannot create.
>
> If you wish to pursue such an approach, we could go to the more appropriate
> group.

Hi,
Thank you for the valuable information. It will be some time before I
can spend more because I have to pay off what I have so another lens is
out of the question. I have a nice 50mm prime I will have to work
with. Do you know of a spherical aberration plugin or something like
that? This way it would allow me to keep my soft distortions local and
still have super clear and sharp layers for eyes and other props in the
photo. I consider this very important to give the viewer something to
really focus on.
I have searched for 'soft portraiture' you referred to and found non
CS2 related tutorials that will be helpful.
You are right about lighting. I am getting better at it. I find the
trick is keeping the light from going deep into the pores and cracks.
Diffused light from behind is helpful for that.

Brgds,
Ron

Bill Hilton

2006-07-10, 6:17 pm

>ronviers@XXXXXXXXXX wrote:
>
> Most of my portraiture clients are older and female. ...
> what I need now are tips and tricks I can
> use in Photoshop that will allow me to really bring out the true beauty
> of these women.

http://www.digitalretouch.org/ ... Katrin Eismann's books on retouching
are very good ...

Bill

/\\BratMan/\\

2006-07-10, 6:17 pm

<ronviers@XXXXXXXXXX> wrote in message
news:1150384881.094645.55410@f6g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Hi,
> It was not easy but I have finally aquired my CS2. My clientele
> necessitate certain editing techniques that I would like to learn and
> adopt early and throughout my Photoshop training.

Any information, either first hand or links to
> tutorials would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Ron
>
This is what I remember from a tutorial called "The Penthouse Blur"

1. Select the picture you want to affect and use the key combo CTRL +ALT +
tilde ("tilde" is the key just below the ESC key on a PC keyboard). This
will create a selection based only on brightness. just the brightest parts
of the layer are selected.

2. Without deselecting at any time, Hit Control + C and then Control + V.
You will now have a new layer which contains a mostly transparent copy of
the original picture.

3. Make sure the layer you just made is selected, then go into ADJUST >
LEVELS and increase the brightness of the layer. The starting value is 255,
try about 230 - 220. depending on the brightness of the original picture.
The brighter the original picture, the lower you'll need to make the value
in order to see any kind of real difference.

4. Once you've adjusted the levels, go into FILTERS > BLUR > GAUSSIAN BLUR
and blur the layer. The value you enter will depend on the size of your
image, but a good start is 6. Your image will now be quite blurry, so use a
soft-edged brush and erase the layer's eyes and mouth to make them stand out
more.

5. Next, set the layer to between 40/60% opacity. and you'll have a
soft-focus effect on your image.

2006-07-10, 6:17 pm

<ronviers@XXXXXXXXXX> wrote:

> [...[ Do you know of a spherical aberration plugin or something like
> that? This way it would allow me to keep my soft distortions local and
> still have super clear and sharp layers for eyes and other props in the
> photo.

I'm afraid I do not. The intentional soft-focus lenses exploit spherical
aberation in three dimensions (or rather, more like two with depth being
signficiant.)

2006-07-10, 6:17 pm

"/\BratMan/\" <br@man.com.invalid> wrote:

> This is what I remember from a tutorial called "The Penthouse Blur"
> [...]

Wow. That's a Hot Tip!

Thanks!

ronviers@gmail.com

2006-07-10, 6:17 pm

/\BratMan/\ wrote:
> <ronviers@XXXXXXXXXX> wrote in message
> news:1150384881.094645.55410@f6g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>
> Any information, either first hand or links to
> This is what I remember from a tutorial called "The Penthouse Blur"
>
>
> 1. Select the picture you want to affect and use the key combo CTRL +ALT +
> tilde ("tilde" is the key just below the ESC key on a PC keyboard). This
> will create a selection based only on brightness. just the brightest parts
> of the layer are selected.
>
>
>
> 2. Without deselecting at any time, Hit Control + C and then Control + V.
> You will now have a new layer which contains a mostly transparent copy of
> the original picture.
>
>
>
> 3. Make sure the layer you just made is selected, then go into ADJUST >
> LEVELS and increase the brightness of the layer. The starting value is 255,
> try about 230 - 220. depending on the brightness of the original picture.
> The brighter the original picture, the lower you'll need to make the value
> in order to see any kind of real difference.
>
>
>
> 4. Once you've adjusted the levels, go into FILTERS > BLUR > GAUSSIAN BLUR
> and blur the layer. The value you enter will depend on the size of your
> image, but a good start is 6. Your image will now be quite blurry, so use a
> soft-edged brush and erase the layer's eyes and mouth to make them stand out
> more.
>
>
>
> 5. Next, set the layer to between 40/60% opacity. and you'll have a
> soft-focus effect on your image.

Thanks for the valuable information. Not only is it helpful but it
gave me some new relevant search terms to Google. I also found this
site.

http://creativebits.org/taxonomy/ad...toshop?from=140

and this one:

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tut...hotoshop-9.html

They should keep me busy for a while.

Brgds,
Ron

Tom Nelson

2006-07-10, 6:18 pm

If you have $99, the Kodak Digital GEM Pro plug-in does some
sophisticated blurring to even out blotchy skin tones and still
maintain fine details. It splits the bluring algorythm into small,
highly-detailed elements, which it preserves, and medium-fine and
large detail, which it blurs to various amounts. You can download a
demo at http://www.asf.com/

As a technique, I recommend duplicating the background layer and using
the Healing Brush to remove wrinkles. The result looks like a bad
retouch job. Then reduce opacity of the layer to about 45%. The
wrinkles return, but lessened - sort of as if there was a fill light
hitting just them. Unlike blur-based techniques, this maintains all the
skin texture.

Tom Nelson
Tom Nelson Photography

ronviers@gmail.com

2006-07-10, 6:18 pm

Tom Nelson wrote:
> If you have $99, the Kodak Digital GEM Pro plug-in does some
> sophisticated blurring to even out blotchy skin tones and still
> maintain fine details. It splits the bluring algorythm into small,
> highly-detailed elements, which it preserves, and medium-fine and
> large detail, which it blurs to various amounts. You can download a
> demo at http://www.asf.com/
>
> As a technique, I recommend duplicating the background layer and using
> the Healing Brush to remove wrinkles. The result looks like a bad
> retouch job. Then reduce opacity of the layer to about 45%. The
> wrinkles return, but lessened - sort of as if there was a fill light
> hitting just them. Unlike blur-based techniques, this maintains all the
> skin texture.
>
> Tom Nelson
> Tom Nelson Photography

Hi Tom, Thanks for the link and tip. I am still getting familiar with
CS2 and to be honest I am a little blown away. It reminds me of when I
got my HP 28c computer scientist's calculator - I kept finding new
buttons for weeks. Anyway I have added your tip to my notes and I will
download the plugin when I feel like I am ready.

Brgds,
Ron