Simple Portrait Retouch

[WickPhotography]

1. Patch tool to remove blemishes
2. Masked Surface Blur to smooth out skin
3. Dodge and Burn on eyes to make them pop a little
4. Curves to adjust color and contrast

I've fixed this since I posted the picture and made it less yellow and smudgey, but my computer is overloaded and I can't do much with it right now

Same process done on this one:

[manwez]

Looks great! Well done!

[windrider86]

isnt it amazing what just simple steps will do to vastly improve a portrait!

[Joey the girl]

you did a great job on the eyes. They look much sharper and definitely pop a lot more.

[carriekitley]

Pardon my ignorance, I'm still learning PP. What is "dodge and burn" and how do you mask surface? I currently use Photoshop Elements 7. I was looking mask function last night and couldn't find it. *sigh*

[WickPhotography]

Dodging and burning in Photoshop mimics a process done in the darkroom to lighten and darken certain parts of an image. I burn the outer rim of the iris to make it a little darker, then I dodge the inner circle of the iris to make it brighter. I hate dodging and burning in the darkroom- but it's one of my favorite tools in Photoshop!

I've never used Photoshop Elements, but on CS3 the mask button is at the bottom of the layers palette. It is a small rectangle with a circle inside of it.You can use it to hide parts of the layer without erasing it.

[pineappleblonde]

Love the finished look, the eyes are so captivating.

[warlycunanan]

great... i try to test at home...

[lputman]

Originally Posted by carriekitley

Pardon my ignorance, I'm still learning PP. What is "dodge and burn" and how do you mask surface? I currently use Photoshop Elements 7. I was looking mask function last night and couldn't find it. *sigh*

I still don't know about Photoshop Elements but I had posted this previously regarding masks.

[ntinlizi]

its lovely, you did a fabulous job