1st Portrait Retouch C&C

MagicMarker

Hello!!

Well in the boredom that is bank holiday Mondays i decided to try out some retouching for the first time!! So i went looking for an old picture and decided on the one below! It's not ideal, sun was right in the face, but i'm not really too concerned for the first time. I'm personally happy with it came out but C&C as always is welcome.

Before...



After... (click for larger)

Weidii

The second one is definately better than the first one and for your first time retouching I reckon this is a very decent job.

PixelTrawler

On my monitor it looks over done and you have lost some of the detail in the face. The brightness is pushed too far. For example the lines on her face above her right eye are gone, the whole patch of skin is glowing way too much, also where the glasses meet her face.

The skin in the before looks a lot more natural... it looks a bit... well like shes sick in the after (too pale, too bright).

Maybe something half way between the shots would be better?

AnCatDubh

Solyad wrote: »

On my monitor it looks over done and you have lost some of the detail in the face. The brightness is pushed too far. For example the lines on her face above her right eye are gone, the whole patch of skin is glowing way too much, also where the glasses meet her face.

The skin in the before looks a lot more natural... it looks a bit... well like shes sick in the after (too pale, too bright).

Maybe something half way between the shots would be better?

As said above. The processing gives a very harsh lighting effect to it. Unless this was what was being looked for it is very hard on your subject. For me, i'd prefer the original of the two. I think the original had that direct light on the face with areas being burnt out in parts so up'ing the brightness even slightly would lose detail on the image. I think your post processing has exaggerated some parts of the bright areas, and interestingly enough i think there may be a better post processing option of pushing a lot more into the light/doing a b/w conversion with high contrast and get a very 'arty' effect retaining outlines of features. Just a though though.

Hope that helps.

mikeanywhere

Prefer the first as you have blown the highlights out even more than they were in the original. Good attempt at it tho!!

MagicMarker

Thanks for the response guys... I know i blew out some of the detail but my i wanted the focal point to be on the eyes, and I like how the over exposure enhanced the eyes...

Here are a couple of versions, first is the same with the exposure layer off and then a B&W

MagicMarker

I have to say, looking at the 3 versions i still prefer the first one, that's probably just my untrained eye though:)

AnCatDubh

here's an attempt taken from the original post (hope you don't mind) - pushing the brightness into really blown-out territory. It won't be everyone's cup of tea though,



Added a bit of crop too. I don't think there's enough at the bottom of the image though - the corner of the mouth is just a little strange.

CamperMan

AnCatDubh, I think this looks terrible, no detail.

AnCatDubh

That's ok Camperman It is really pushing the brightness and destroys detail (perhaps even the essence of the image itself) - won't be for everyone.

MagicMarker

AnCatDubh wrote: »

That's ok Camperman It is really pushing the brightness and destroys detail (perhaps even the essence of the image itself) - won't be for everyone.

Yeah, just a little too much is lost, especially seeing as the main focal point is the eyes.

Any more opinions appreciated though.

sineadw

Honestly? And I don't mean to sound harsh here..

I'm not sure the original is going to be improved on much. Its not sharp in the eyes, and the crop is very tight. The area beneath the eyes is blown out substantially too and it really takes away from the focal point. As does the line of the glasses across the eye. And I think if you had one of her looking into the lens it'd be much more engaging.

Sorry Its just with the very harsh light you have so much going on between the light and dark areas that its pulling my eye around too much. Could you maybe post a high res of the original? Or do you shoot in raw?

MagicMarker

sineadw wrote: »

Honestly? And I don't mean to sound harsh here..

I'm not sure the original is going to be improved on much. Its not sharp in the eyes, and the crop is very tight. The area beneath the eyes is blown out substantially too and it really takes away from the focal point. As does the line of the glasses across the eye. And I think if you had one of her looking into the lens it'd be much more engaging.

Sorry Its just with the very harsh light you have so much going on between the light and dark areas that its pulling my eye around too much. Could you maybe post a high res of the original? Or do you shoot in raw?

Not to worry Sinead, i don't take offence...

Regarding the actual picture, i know it's not amazing, it was just a case of picking one out of the hat to practice on, i don't really have to many portraits to choose from. Plus it hasn't been cropped at all, incase its thought i cropped it like that on purpose. And yes this was shot in raw.

I guess my own reasons for liking it are rather biased, because she's a good friend and this was taken on my birthday, so i guess i see more than a picture:)

Just one thing though, i do see that the original isn't exactly sharp on the eyes, like you say. But do you not think the eyes are much better in the second one posted?

sineadw

MagicMarker wrote: »

Just one thing though, i do see that the original isn't exactly sharp on the eyes, like you say. But do you not think the eyes are much better in the second one posted?

Yep definitely. The problem to my eye is though that the rest of the image has also been sharpened, so you lose the focal point that the eyes should be. If it were my shot I'd be doing a sharpen on a duplicate layer, another more heavy sharpen again on another duplicate, stick a mask onto the last layer, paint-bucket out the mask with black and then re-sharpen the eyes *only* with a white-ish paintbrush.

I'd also be using the same technique to pull the highlights back around the reflection of the glasses under her eyes, and possibly for the shadows on her forehead and elsewhere. Its a matter of taste and personal knowledge though. A shot really can mean a whole lot personally that no-one but you will ever see.

If you need a hand with the technique I mentioned give me a shout by PM. I'm going to bed till at least noon tomorrow now though, so If I don't answer I'm not being ignorant