[redcat]

As suggested by manntax I post my Raw file here and welcome retouchers to enhance the look. And please tell me what technique you use to get the final result, I'd love to learn from you guys.
Link to the Raw file : RAW File
Thank you in advance !

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[Rampage2k5]

I used the Jpeg to do the modding
LR5
BW - Up the shadows and darks, reduced highlights, bits of sharpening, bits of noise reduction.
Increased contrasts.

I think the portrait was really good to start with, but im a fan of BW portraits so

[Rampage2k5]

Here is the shot

[LensBeginner]

A well-taken picture - I have to say.
Low noise in spite of being some 2 stops underexposed...

This is my take, CR only, no fancy stuff.
It's a more traditional, nothing too imaginative, kind of standard PP.
Since nobody has proposed something along those lines I figured I'd give it a spin...



Obviously I credited you in the comments on Flickr, so that nobody actually thinks I've got all this talent!

[Tas]

The post processing I chose was using the onOne Perfect Photo Suite 9. The image was processed in Perfect Portraits then Perfect Effects after setting the white point in LR5. I then used this image as the basis for the B&W version below undertaken in Perfect B&W. I finish all images in Photoshop (for image size and sRGB conversion) and once in there I felt the B&W version lacked contrast so a curves layer was used to increase this slightly. Thank you for the opportunity to dabble in portraiture, it's not something I do and I appreciate the chance to test my efforts with your work.

[jbondo]

Here's a reduced size. Let me know if you want the full res.

please tell me what technique you use to get the final result,

Process --> Brought into DXO Optics pro. Used the lens correction profiles. Set white balance using the dropper tool on the white of her eye. Tweaked the white balance a little from there. Used selective color to tame the hair and lips. Brought down the mid tones a little and raised the high and low tones. Massively reduced the micro-contrast, and very slightly raised the contrast. Processed raw to jpg. Brought into photoshop. Lightened the eyes slightly. Made little tweaks to color and levels. Saved.

[6BQ5]

redcat,

That's a wonderfully composed shot! Kudos to you!

I used Apple Aperture to process your photo. Here is what I did.

• The shot looked very dark. I bumped it up to +1.31.
• Added definition. Slider at 0.35.
• Warmed up the white balance by around 600 degrees to 5427k.
• Toned down the highlights. Slider at 50.
• Sharpened.
• Did some burning around the hair and background in upper left hand side of the image. Also slightly burned the left half of the face too at a lower level. (my left, her right)

Being a red hair lady, I wanted to accentuate her color, texture, and freckles. When I preview the attachment here at PF I think the extra compression the forum uses dulled some of my adjustments. I did this at work on break so my monitor is not calibrated too. Oh well ... hopefully the spirit of the changes come through.

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Last edited by 6BQ5; 11-21-2014 at 03:37 PM.

[Na Horuk]

First of all, you have a great camera and lens, the photo is very sharp and full of detail! But for portraits of women, this can actually work against you, as "detail" is considered "unsightly." Having a single light source and big contrast can also emphasize this. This is why portraits often have a bunch of diffused lights. These days, some people even use a macro ring flash, which removes a lot of shadows from the face, but its a difficult technique
Next is underexposure. While I appreciate that maybe you wanted to evoke a certain mood, if you shoot raw, you usually want to expose to the right. Making a photo darker in post has almost no penalty, but brightening it increases the noise a lot. So I brightened the image. In general, you usually want to overexpose female portraits, as that removes blemishes/wrinkles and creates a healthier appearance. Of course, when people process another photographer's work, we don't know what the original vision was, and we process according to our own ideas, so forgive me if I go too far.
Now on to white balance. The raw software makes the AWB really cold. I switched to "Daylight" and added a little pink. Portraits typically have to be warm and pink, not blue and green. Warm and pink are associated with health, happiness, while blue and green are cold or even sick colours. I also added a little "split toning" - added some golden colour to the highlights to give a uniform hue.
Next, crop. You took the photo up close, to make the viewer feel a certain intimacy, which is great, but you also wanted to leave in some of that wonderful reddish hair. I cropped in tighter to emphasize the vulnerability and intimacy, while sacrificing beauty. I also rotated the photo a little to get her eyebrows in line.
I reduced clarity a little bit, as well as lowered the sharpening (again, woman. Have to emphasize softness, femininity. For a man, you would increase clarity and contrast to emphasize jagged lines and features). I also added a lot of masking and basically only sharpened her eyes and lashes, careful not to sharpen the wrinkles just below the eyes.
Finally, I removed some blemishes with the clone brush. Nobody has perfect skin, this is why models wear a ton of makeup and then get a full photoshop treatment over that! Just removing a couple bumps can have a big effect, especially when you have a light situation like this, with big shadows.
Anyway, below is my finished product. I changed the mood of the photo quite a bit, I know, but hey, this thread is about showing our vision Hope someone likes it

[Rampage2k5]

Here a grittier sin city style photo hehe

[manntax]

Many nice versions - I agree this is beautiful photo and here is my version of it - I have done some shadow lifting with shadow/highlights balancing, some local brushing and overall tweaks to image to achieve softer, warmer, subtle effect - imho matching the subject better. Ah and yes, I did change the colour of her lipstick - that pink was just too much for me :P

[08amczb]

In general I set every parameter to get a natural skin tone with some contrast. I love colorful but natural looking images. After that I correct vinetting and and distorsion if it nececerry. In Photoshop I remove evry dstracting thing from the skin, dodge the skin under and burn above the eye. I also supress wrinkles under the eye. I use high pass filter to sharpen a little the eyes and mouth. The last step is liquifing the image to get thinner face whit bigger eyes, its critical to do it very cerfully, because this can ruin the whole picture if it is too strong.
I uploded to dropbox a psd file, with all adjustment layers and everything else (its a scaled down version):
PSD file and JPEGs

I realized I need this lens, and some studio lights...

[Caver]

Here is my approach. I like the model, the angle you've shot from, the overall photo is pleasing - but the lighting IMHO was not properly set, this grazing light brings out details you normally want to hide (the small hairs and skin blemishes - which I bet you can't see in normal light) - and probably the chosen aperture and the AA filterless design of the K5IIs are a negatives in this situation.

I've used Silkypix Pro 6 to develop the raw, I've cropped the image to bring the "center" of the face and the eyes into a more balanced place (at least this is how I like it better), I've modified the overall tone to give the image a little bit of "vintage" or "western/autumnal" mood, then I lowered the sharpness and exported a 16bit TIF / retouched the face in Photoshop, gently blurred the surroundings and sharpening the eyes and the lips. Resized to 900px height to post here. (let me know if you need the original sized tiff file)

I've also made a rough developed version (opened is Silkypix and just pressed the auto exposure button then exported a 900px height jpg - to make the side-by side comparison)

The results:


And the after/before:

[GUB]

As suggested by manntax I post my Raw file here and welcome retouchers to enhance the look. And please tell me what technique you use to get the final result, I'd love to learn from you guys.
Link to the Raw file : RAW File
Thank you in advance !

Lovely image of a lovely natural subject.
The relationship of the shadow linking with the dark eyes, mascara and the black shoulder strap is important.
The eyes need to be light enough to differentiate between the balck and brown.
And the texture had to be kept in the skin highlights.
I am normally into photoing plants and landscape so this was a great challenge for me.
Edited on linux with darktable, gimp and picasa.
In darktable I profile denoised , warmed colour a little and dragged the exp histogram across till it was nicely placed.
In gimp I applied a light contrast mask to lift the shadows a little.
Then a smart sharpen to get the maximum sharpening for eyes , eye lashes and brows and hair.
Took care not to sharpen the sidelit facial hair.
Shifted it to picasa and increased fill light a little and applied a light soft focus effect to areas away from face.(This softened the freckles on the shoulder)
I think cavers cropping is appropriate but I always leave the cropping decision to be decided in conjunction with the medium used.(ie letter or A4 paper).
Thank you for this opportunity.
Edit: Oh and one thing I couldn't make my mind up on-- Maybe the little patch of light under the shadowed ear would be better cloned out. What say you?

[redcat]

thank you guyssssss sooooooooooo much for your time, your retouch and detail explanations !!!
Each photo convey a different look and retouch style :
* super grungy look of Rampage2k5
* bright style of LensBeginner
* vintage mood of Tas
* selective color of jbondo
* red hair style of 6BQ5
* warm look of Na Horuk
* soft style of manntax
* subtle retouch of 08amczb
* golden painting style of Caver
* nostalgic mood of GUB
Really appriciate each and everyone of your work !!
I learned many new things here Thanks again !

[Rampage2k5]

Thanks for letting us work this,
I think we all learned something from everyone!
Have a good one