Help please

KTBoom2006-E510

Here is one of my photos taken yesterday... can someone help me get rid of the shinny spots on her head? I tried working with it in light room and have fixed some things, but can't get rid of the shine....

Seneca

Katie...this is better...but trust me when I say ...shooting with the sun to YOUR back is not going to solve anything. You will always have blown out spots, and or "shiny areas" around your subject's face. You also had your aperture somewhat wide open.

I like that you did spot meter your subject. Good job.

Seneca

Here is my attempt.

gabrielzimages

Here you go. I did a few other subtle changes to enhance it a bit.
It looks like the light was coming from directly above. In bright daylight its really best to shoot the model in shade and use a flash diffuser, but of course its not always practical or possible. Although if it was cloudy or in the shadow of a cloud that would work well too. Or you can just touch it up of course

I also enlarged it quite a bit for you. Even larger than seen here (1306x1741). Here is the link to the original size so you can have a copy of it if you wish: http://gabrielzimages.smugmug.com/gallery/5018411_quvxu#301176831_bBfRP-O-LB

KTBoom2006-E510

Thank you both so much... may I ask what you did to make her look different? And what program?

The reason for time of day is she is so busy that 12:00 has been the best time for her. So I used my reflectors to help out. The sun was right above me, and no clouds at all. But I am happy with them, I did the best I could for not having flash.

Really, THANKS:ivar

Seneca

My attempt was a glamour glow plug-in. But you have to buy this effect.

Azurite

I, myself, have been trying like mad to improve skin shine without plug-ins. I can see "gabriellezimages" brightened the whites of your model's eyes and enhanced catch lights (which I use the dodge tool) --nice touch.

As for skin, a lot of folks recommend the "healing" tool in Photoshop, but I can't get good control over that one. Same problem with cloning... ends up cartooney for me.

Here's what I've tried.... I select the face with the lasso tool. Make sure to DESELECT eyes and teeth. Then overall soften the skin with the blur tool -- mildly (maybe 2 or 3 pixels). Then I pick an area on the face that has correct/normal coloring by using the color sampler tool (shared with the eyedropper tool in PS). Once I have the RGB and CMYK numbers that make up that color selection, then I add that specific color to my color palette. Next I go for the diffuse glow filter (under Filters - Distort). So I "diffuse glow" a normal skin tone OVER the highlights (or shine) to fill it in. It works ok for me. Just got to be careful about picking a good skin tone with the color sampler.

Seneca

Azurite wrote:

I, myself, have been trying like mad to improve skin shine without plug-ins. I can see "gabriellezimages" brightened the whites of your model's eyes and enhanced catch lights (which I use the dodge tool) --nice touch.

As for skin, a lot of folks recommend the "healing" tool in Photoshop, but I can't get good control over that one. Same problem with cloning... ends up cartooney for me.

Here's what I've tried.... I select the face with the lasso tool. Make sure to DESELECT eyes and teeth. Then overall soften the skin with the blur tool -- mildly (maybe 2 or 3 pixels). Then I pick an area on the face that has correct/normal coloring by using the color sampler tool (shared with the eyedropper tool in PS). Once I have the RGB and CMYK numbers that make up that color selection, then I add that specific color to my color palette. Next I go for the diffuse glow filter (under Filters - Distort). So I "diffuse glow" a normal skin tone OVER the highlights (or shine) to fill it in. It works ok for me. Just got to be careful about picking a good skin tone with the color sampler.

You don't have to deselect anything just make sure and use the eraser once you have Glaussian Blurred the face. Send me an image and I'll correct it for you and show you what I did. It's really simple.

gabrielzimages

I used Photoshop 7. No plug-ins, just a bit of snail-paced touch-up.

super star

Lady in Blue..

Azurite

gabrielzimages wrote:

I used Photoshop 7. No plug-ins, just a bit of snail-paced touch-up.

Ok, thanks for the clarification

Azurite

Seneca wrote:

You don't have to deselect anything just make sure and use the eraser once you have Glaussian Blurred the face. Send me an image and I'll correct it for you and show you what I did. It's really simple.

Thanks for the info... but I'm confused.... the Gaussian blur works well for softening the skin.... but do you use that tool to take away big shine spots too? That hasn't worked for me.

For example, KTBoom has second set of senior photos posted to another thread. And # 5 is a gorgeous one, I love how the blurred trees and flowers frame her face. But there are 2 areas on the face where sunlight poked through and blew out the color. I can't see how the Gaussian blur would help that.

And cloning or healing tool end up taking away the texture of her skin..... those tools make her skin look too touched up. I'm attaching a comparison of the original look plus my attempt to take the shine off her left cheek. And it looks overdone - it doens't match her right cheek ... I can't even get the nose to look anything like normal. What would you do to fix this, otherwise, nice photo?

KTBoom2006-E510

Azurite wrote:

Thanks for the info... but I'm confused.... the Gaussian blur works well for softening the skin.... but do you use that tool to take away big shine spots too? That hasn't worked for me.

For example, KTBoom has second set of senior photos posted to another thread. And # 5 is a gorgeous one, I love how the blurred trees and flowers frame her face. But there are 2 areas on the face where sunlight poked through and blew out the color. I can't see how the Gaussian blur would help that.

And cloning or healing tool end up taking away the texture of her skin..... those tools make her skin look too touched up. I'm attaching a comparison of the original look plus my attempt to take the shine off her left cheek. And it looks overdone - it doens't match her right cheek ... I can't even get the nose to look anything like normal. What would you do to fix this, otherwise, nice photo?

Here was my final



The client was very happy with it, I know it could be better. But that is how I left it.