I got the Book SKIN. It is pretty sweet. Talks a lot about lighting and touch ups. It gives some pretty thorough tutorials. Check these out and see what you think. I am posting before and after for a reference.

John, I think that the touch-ups are very flattering and subtle! Excellent work!

Thanks, I was going for that. This book rocks, and if full of good stuff.

Looks good John, a little red on my monitor though. Try the liquify filter on her left eye a little.

hmmm - it looks good and I guess overall it's good practice, but is it really the person? when is touching up a step too far?


I have taken scratches off babies faces and a bruise off a leg before, but I think I'd draw the line at smoothing a face and removing wrinkles.

I'm not knocking your work at all, I understand you're learning valuable skills that will help your workflow later, I just question the need to take 30 years off people when in fact they are as beautiful and unique as anyone out there.

I don't think he took 30 years off her. He just took her out of bad light and into the kind of light we women look at ourselves in when we look at ourselves in a mirror.

(I look GOOD when I look at myself in the mirror in my bathroom. But darn if I don't look like crap when somebody takes a picture of me outside in daylight. I HATE that.)

I think she will love you because you made her look more like she sees herself when she does the quick check just before heading out the door. Good job, John.

(I was exaggerating slightly there sorry - but I see your point Jules).


I guess what I was trying to allude to (In my head it went this way anyway) was to shoot them in a way that accentuates the subject. Find the light you know.

In my honest opinion I think it is a tad too much. You didn't do a bad job at the touch ups by any means but it looks to me like she is wearing a lot of make up.

just puttin that out there.

Oh, that skin book does have some great techniques. I got to skim through a bit of it and liked the one with reducing the red blotchiness on skin. Very natural like.

I think the photo does look good but I would tone it down a bit between the before and after. But that's just my opinion.

Good to know. After Frank's comment I am wondering if my monitor is out of syn. How do the skin tones look?

Thanks for the input guys.

little red on my monitor as well... just calibrated a couple of days ago ...

but wow, excellent job! i think i will look into that book.

remids me of a similar experience: I was in a club in Charlotte.......dancing all up on this mega hot girl.........after leaving the club,.............. and getting into "real" light............she looked more luke warm than hot hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa

yes, I know that has nothing to do with this debate, but I just felt the need to share that.

Frank, I've spent a lot of time playing with liquify...but I can NEVER get the eyes right so I just end up leaving them alone. It just makes them look weird if I use the bloat tool. Am I missing something?

ditto on this one. what exactly did you mean by telling me to use the liquify tool on her eye. What should I have done?

Theres are really good tutorial on www.radiantvista.com on photo retouching as well if anyone wants to check it out. There is a lot of good stuff on there.

she'll love it-
trust me!

These suggestions are to help you take your retouch from good to Great.

- one thing i watch out for in a retouch is texture loss. maybe reduce opacity in the smooth skin layer to bring back some of the natural texture.

- right now the skin tone in the middle to lower half of her face looks too even causing loss of definition around the nose and cheek.

- the remaining crows feet are still too defined and stand out against the silky smooth skin surrounding them.

- you may want to soften the crows feet a touch and bring back a some of her beautiful laugh lines .

- liquify "bloat tool" to enlarge her left eye for symmetry

It is a good retouch. As it stands, she'll probably love it and you for "seeing" her in this "light".

Hey John,
I may have gone a little too far but you can see what liquify did to the eye. I would also lighten around the forehead because lighter skin tones look better on a woman, and crop. Of course I am procrastinating again and really have to get to work. Hope this helps. The color looks better now but still not perfect, I just did it kind of fast. Plus it was a small file I was playing with so there is a lot of noise (didn't want to use a noise filter). Quick clone job too.

I totally don't understand how to use that liquify tool.

I like some of the changes that frank made, but I like the warmth in her hair. I say if you take some red out, I would replace it back into her hair. And I have never ever used the liquify tool, so I am adding one more to the , wait huh? pile. I had no idea i could open up the eye like that.

- oh and one side note, I feel like if you go that smooth on the texture of her face (which personally I don't mind, depending on the situation) be careful to watch the areas around her nose and eyes. If you go that smooth, it needs to be consistant all over and I think in those areas (which I know are much more difficult to blend) is where it gives away that the rest of the texture is false. Those little pieces are what can make it noticeable.

Jules, under filter, select liquify and play around. The tools come up on the left side of the page. That is the simple way. It can also be very complex and do a lot more things but I haven't used it like that in awhile so I would have to look it up again. one trick is to pull in all directions instead of just up or down.

I agree with the hair too Erin, good call I just did it fast. If it were my image I would have put it back, or subtracted it from the change, played with the skin tones a little more and add a little warmth.

I know you're talking about skin & retouch but she needs a dose of tooth whitening! If you wanna know how I do it, it's yesterday's Photoshop tip on my blog!

Click to view attachment

Now she looks like she's been to a dentist & a plastic surgeon!

John, you're obviously picking up some really good info in this book you've bought & you're succeeding in reproducing it which is what the learning process is all about

Hey I meant to say this yesterday but I didn't get the chance. I think that your edit looks great, my only problem is that the model doesn't have a philthrum which makes her un-edited face look fake to me. Haha so there's nothing you can do but I personally might dodge it in a bit. Great job for sure!

She doesn't have a WHAT?

The two small vetical ridges between your nose and lips.

Exactly John, it's just the liddle dent thing under the nose.