Post Processing tips for shiny skin?

PhotosbyKW

Let me start out with saying that after a lot of advice, I'm currently revamping the way I do processing of photos. I was hoping that I could get some advice on how you deal with shiny skin. Around here that is a frequent problem this time of year. My results from my "post" skills tumble rapidly down the hill to hades when I attempt to do anything too far from the basics, and this is one of the things I'm confounded with. Are there any convincing ways to deal with this without having to blur the rest of the skin?

Basically, how do you do it?

Thanks in advance.:scratch

KAW.

ziggy53

There are 2 types of shiny skin that i typically deal with:

1) Bright skin, this is typically what I get when the subject does not have makeup on and the light is fairly contrasty.

2) Blown skin tones, where the skin is so light, because of a reflection from the skin usually, that detail is lost.

For the first case, where there is still visible skin detail but the tones are obviously different from the surrounding skin, I'll use a technique to selectively replace the tones similar to the link below:

http://creativetechs.com/tipsblog/quick-skin-tone-retouching-in-photoshop/

For the second case, I use a multiple of techniques to "repair and replace" the missing tones and detail/texture. I will often start with the technique in the above link to paste in some similar color, and then use the "Clone" tool in PhotoShop to finish the job with samples from similar areas that are correct. This can also work for "blotchy" tones caused by uneven lighting like under a tree with the sun peeking through the leaves.

Nikolai

I shot a lot of "skin", various races and ages, studio and outdoors, both midday (harsh!) and sunset, beach, sierras and desert. Can't say had too much of a skin problems.
I mean, scars, acne - they are all relatively easy to treat by a variety of PS methods.
Oily skin is best treated with makeup (base/power/concealer/etc.) and oil-removing tissues (beauty product).
Darker skin require more light than a "normal" one, fair one requires less...
Other than that.... Care to post some samples you're having problems with?

WingsOfLovePhoto

My guess is you are referring to sweaty skin when it it hot out and flash or sun or a reflector causes a hot spot? If that is the case I usually do one of 2 things dependant on the size of the spot. If it is small like on the tip of the nose I just patch tool it away. If it is larger areas on the face I create a duplicate layer then set the clone tool to darken and 30% opacity and clone from a not shiny area to the shiny one. Works pretty good!

PhotosbyKW

I'm away for a few days but I can look for good examples when I get back. Yes, it is primarily sweaty spots that catch fill flash. I can usually find them ahead of time with a reflector but I have had more than a few that I missed and "here I am" once I pulled up the image- from where the fill caught it. Forehead is what I was mainly worried about. I'll play with these suggestions as well. Removing them totally is not so much what I was thinking- as much as thinking of blending them a little so that they would not be so noticable as to detract. Thanks.

KAW.

Nikolai

PhotosbyKW wrote:

I'm away for a few days but I can look for good examples when I get back. Yes, it is primarily sweaty spots that catch fill flash. I can usually find them ahead of time with a reflector but I have had more than a few that I missed and "here I am" once I pulled up the image- from where the fill caught it. Forehead is what I was mainly worried about. I'll play with these suggestions as well. Removing them totally is not so much what I was thinking- as much as thinking of blending them a little so that they would not be so noticable as to detract. Thanks.

KAW.

Most reliable method to deal with those - watch for them and don't let them happen. I shoot in a hot SoCal climate a lot, it's a known problem.
Tissues, pads, towels... Few seconds during the shoot here and there will save you hours of PS time - and with much beter results at that

divamum

Prevention is the best solution, but if you do wind up with shiny spots then I've found very sheer opacity cloning works well to tone it down. My goal is always to make it look like the most flawless makeup-job and perfect skin ever rather than "retouching"; not sure I achieve it, but that's the aim. I usually clone at around 8-15% on a separate layer (so I can adjust it down even further if necessary). Time-consuming, but effective.

Before



After processing

adbsgicom

divamum wrote:

... I've found very sheer opacity cloning works well to tone it down. My goal is always to make it look like the most flawless makeup-job and perfect skin ever rather than "retouching"; not sure I achieve it, but that's the aim. I usually clone at around 8-15% on a separate layer (so I can adjust it down even further if necessary). Time-consuming, but effective.

Can you either be a bit more detailed in what you do, or reference some other tutorial?

Thanks!

Nikolai

adbsgicom wrote:

Can you either be a bit more detailed in what you do, or reference some other tutorial?

Thanks!

Not a Photoshop user, I reckon?

1) open PS
2) load image
3) zoom on the damaged area
4) creat a new empty layer
5) from the tools palette select "Stamp" tool (also known as clone tool)
6) set opacity to 15..20
7) set sampling source "current and below"
8) start cloning
9) when done adjust layer opacity to the taste (in the layer palette).

As Diva said, pretty basic stuff. I personally prefer Patch tool, but that's me (although it has the disadvantage of not working on an empty layer, so you gotta copy the whole layer or enough material to work with)

divamum

adbsgicom wrote:

Can you either be a bit more detailed in what you do, or reference some other tutorial?

Thanks!

Literally what I said: the PS clone tool used on a separate duplicate layer, so I can adjust the layer's total opacity as well if I need to (I generally do my retouching on layers, building up each one from the next by using "ctrl+J" or, if I have MANY layers to incorporate "ctrl+alt+shift+e" to merge all visible to a new layer).

I simply go over the problem area - having sampled from a nearby appropriate luminosity/colour area - and clone away, trying to keep it random enough and "sheer" enough that no lines or clear demarcations emerge. My clone brush opacity is usually 7-20% ish, in other words, very low. I build up the coverage gradually (just like I would if I was doing it with makeup rather than digital retouching). Occasionally I will switch the clone brush blend to lighten or darken if it's appropriate to the area being worked on, but usually normal does this job better than the other blends.

I vary zoom ratios to check but usually find myself working at approximately screen-view size rather than much larger. Because shine generally covers a fairly large area, it doesn't work well to try and work too much within it, instead working OVER it.

If this doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try to be clearer and/or post screen shots if I can.

adbsgicom

I'm good. I got thrown by the word sheer (it doesn't take much to throw me). I thought it meant some different blend mode as opposed to just low opacity. Thanks for the clarification and pointing out the use of darken/lighten as part of the flow as well. Never having applied makeup, I'll have to take your word for it that this process will be similar.

hgernhardtjr

If you use PhotoShop CS or higher, one useful little action, MagicSkin, can be downloaded free here: http://www.finessefx.com/pagesactions/magic-skin.php While I prefer the by-hand artistic PhotoShop methods, some as described above, several of my students swear by MagicSkin.

PhotosbyKW

Don't feel bad, it doesn't take much to throw me either.

DM- that is exactly the look that I was imagining. Thanks for the input. I'll work on that.

I think I'm going to like it here.

KAW.

divamum

Oh good - glad that helped (and Nik, clearly we were typing/posting at the same time... only just saw your response)

Nikolai wrote:

I personally prefer Patch tool, but that's me (although it has the disadvantage of not working on an empty layer, so you gotta copy the whole layer or enough material to work with)

I like the patch tool too - and am using it a lot more now (several months on from when the examples I linked were done) but even after patching I will usually create a "skin cloning" layer where I apply the technique described. While time-consuming, I do find that it usually gives me the results I like the most. Biggest mistake I've made when working on it (always reversible thanks to layers - gotta love layers!) is trying to rush it and use too dense a brush (ie 24-50%). Building it up slowly ALWAYS gives better results.

One other thing I've figured out recently: patch before cloning. If you do it the other way around you get very odd "artefacting" type results, particularly if you do any subsequent layers with soft light or overlay blends. Not a goodness D

divamum

hgernhardtjr wrote:

If you use PhotoShop CS or higher, one useful little action, MagicSkin, can be downloaded free here: http://www.finessefx.com/pagesactions/magic-skin.php While I prefer the by-hand artistic PhotoShop methods, some as described above, several of my students swear by MagicSkin.

WOW - thanks for that link! I prefer doing it "the hard way", but it's always good to have added tools in the arsenal (especially when in a hurry.... )

Oobers

Nikolai wrote:

Not a Photoshop user, I reckon?

1) open PS
2) load image
3) zoom on the damaged area
4) creat a new empty layer
5) from the tools palette select "Stamp" tool (also known as clone tool)
6) set opacity to 15..20
7) set sampling source "current and below"
8) start cloning
9) when done adjust layer opacity to the taste (in the layer palette).

As Diva said, pretty basic stuff. I personally prefer Patch tool, but that's me (although it has the disadvantage of not working on an empty layer, so you gotta copy the whole layer or enough material to work with)

Thank you for posting this I have just used the technique on a photo of my grandson and it is great.

Nikolai

Oobers wrote:

Thank you for posting this I have just used the technique on a photo of my grandson and it is great.

Glad I could help!

divamum

Update on this: I have tried Magic Skin as per the link above and it is GREAT! It's a really neat action and it works - I was very impressed when I first used it, and consider it a must-have now. And it's free! Really a great find - thanks for sharing it!