Getting the perfect skin texture..?

[Shawn7656]

I've done a lot with Photoshop, and learned many tips and tricks along the way. One thing I've never been able to get down quite right is how to blur the skin on someones face to the point where you don't lose the expression or make them look fake, but also so their skin looks smooth. I'm talking about Portrait photography by the way, not street or anything else.
I like the way it looks when the skin is blurred because it gives the subject a better looking complexion, and it makes it easier to bring out the eyes (especially if you didn't focus well to begin with).

This picture was taken with my point and shoot. I am not asking for a critique on the photo itself, but more so on the editing that I've done to it.

The original

EXIF:
Shutter: 1/160
f/3.5
ISO 64
Probably taken in auto mode, using my Olympus FE-20 (p&s)


From the original, I used Lightroom to put the image into black and white, I adjusted the color values, and then added a red tint to the highlights, and a dark blue to the shadows to give it a bit more "life". I then put it into Photoshop, where I edited out blemishes in the skin, and put a gaussian blur filter on a duplicate layer of the background. I used the eraser to remove all blur from the background and body, all from the eyes, most of it from the hair, and a slight amount around the edges/wrinkles/definition in the face

Edited version:


While the picture wasn't the best in the first place, I don't think the skin looks good in the second one, even though that was my intention. Can anyone give me tips on how to get the perfect look with skin? I've always found it hard not to over/under blur in the first place, and I never know quite where to get rid of the blur on the face, other than the eyes, edges of the nose (which I feel I don't do right), and the lips.
Things I specifically don't like about the way this turned out are the way her cheeks look, and the fact that when I look at the pic it seems the focal point is around her mouth, even though I would like it to be on the eyes; I look at her eyes second though..

Thank you for your help in advance


ALSO... While we're at it, would you mind giving me advice on a better watermark? Those are my initials (SM, or SNM), but they're also the initials of a sex game, and I don't really want anyone to get the wrong idea haha. I was think about maybe "SMP" for "Shawn Meilicke Photography" or something... Maybe making a circular logo with text under it. I've heard you should add a date and the copyright symbol to them as well... Comments?

[RLucas]

Try this. Instead of Gaussian blur, on a new layer, do a high pass sharpen, just enough to where the edges show definition. Then on the sharpen layer, go to Colors> Invert. Adjust the opacity to taste. By inverting the sharpen layer, the tonal transitions will be much more gradual, instead of just a big blob of blur.
Hope this helps!

[BigFuzzy]

I'll qualify what I'm about to say by noting that i rarely do skin smoothing. I think (most times) it's fake looking at takes away from the image.

Having said that, this is what I do (actually I have two methods) when I do feel the need to soften (I like 'soften' over 'smooth') the skin

Method where background doesn't matter.
I use lightroom3.
I simply lower the clarity slider into the negatives (rarely go past -5) and that seems to just touch up the skin enough for my tastes. Your results may vary.

Method where background does matter (ie you don't want it smoothened).
I use LR3 and PS
Again, get the image to the point where I think it's final
Create virtual copy.
Use above method to apply "clarity softening" which will affect whole image
Export both images into PS as layers and remove the "clarity softened" background from the smoothed image to reveal the sharper original.

NOTE: This is probably not most effective way since you can simply use the Adjustment brush and put the Clarity slider on Minus and paint over the area of skin you want smoothened. I just keep doing it that way out of habit. Plus I like to have smoothed and non-smoothed virtual copies in my LR catalog...just in case.

Alternatively, when I used to use noise ninja to remove noise, if done judiciously, it can act as a skin smoother. Same with the noise removal tool in LR3 which is awesome by the way.

[Rentham]

Originally Posted by Shawn7656

I then put it into Photoshop, where I edited out blemishes in the skin, and put a gaussian blur filter on a duplicate layer of the background. I used the eraser to remove all blur from the background and body, all from the eyes, most of it from the hair, and a slight amount around the edges/wrinkles/definition in the face

You're on the right track for that particular technique. After blurring the layer, put an inverted mask on it and then paint the effect back in using a brush with white foreground color. Don't paint on any areas with clearly defined edges like the lips, eyes, jaw line, etc. You can lower the brush opacity and work the effect in gradually. I usually keep my brush opacity high, paint the effect in, then lower the layer opacity.

The problem with that approach is you are blurring both color and texture. A better (for me, anyway) approach is to work on color and texture separately. The directions are in this thread. It is more of a beauty technique, where the goal is often unrealistic perfection (ie cosmetics ads, etc) but it does have other applications.

I'm still learning it and my use of it is often clumsy, but here are two recent examples of using it. The first is a simple beauty headshot along with a 100% crop to show you how the skin texture is still intact. The second is for a male I shot. We were having problems with skin shine, as well as some pretty apparent blemishes.


Caroline


100% Crop Skin texture


Before and After for Skin Retouch

[autofocus]

I know I have posted this here before, but I can't find it. So, here is what I do:

1) Ctrl J - New layer
2) Filter>Other>High Pass (set to taste and varies with image, but I usually set from about 6 - 25)
3) Set above to Overlay mode in layers palette
4) Ctrl I (on PC) to invert
5) Hold Alt key and select Mask Icon on bottom of layers palette (grey rectangle with white circle in middle)
6) Pick and use a soft white brush to paint in the areas you want softened. Make adjustments with brush and layers opacity to adjust
7) Flatten layer

[wulf]

I'd say you've gone a bit too far with the attempted smoothing in this one; it looks blurry, blotchy and, above all is made very apparent because you have more in-focus areas both nearer and further away from the lens.

My preferred method for converting to black and white is to decompose the image into RGB channels and then to blend those layers back into each other with varying degrees of masking, layer modes and order. For a light-skinned subject the red channel can often stand on it's own or with just a few contributions from the other channels.

My other standyby for skin smoothing is to blur a duplicate layer by a few pixels, set it to screen mode and turn down the opacity until the result is a subtle glow rather than an obvious blur. Doing that reduces the sections you might need to work on in more detail - a quick test on this shot suggests that a few dabs with a clone brush to remove some spots will work:



Original on the left, clone-healing and then 10px blurred overlay in screen mode (about 30% opacity) in the centre and the same again with a high-pass sharpening effect on the right (which brings back detail round features like eyes and lips without undoing the flattering glow).

Wulf

[BigFuzzy]

Is there a LR3 equivalent method to achieve the High-pass technique?

BTW Rentham, that's some great editing. I feel that I fear/dislike skin smoothing partly because I'm simply not good at it. It's the same as people who call themselves "natural light photographers" mostly saying so because they fear/don't know how to use flash.

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

Is there a LR3 equivalent method to achieve the High-pass technique?

.

I think the clarity slider is much the same as high pass, but done selectively instead of using a layer.

[wulf]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

Is there a LR3 equivalent method to achieve the High-pass technique?

I explained my approach in more detail here:

DIY High Pass Filter (and my soul patch!)

I process things with the Gimp and, on my home machine, tend to use a downloaded filter which does the same thing but with more options and less manual steps needed but it is essentially the same. I don't know enough about LR to suggest how you could translate it (or, indeed, if you need to).

Wulf

[Rentham]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

BTW Rentham, that's some great editing. I feel that I fear/dislike skin smoothing partly because I'm simply not good at it. It's the same as people who call themselves "natural light photographers" mostly saying so because they fear/don't know how to use flash.

Thanks, Al, I appreciate it. You know how it is. Jump right in with both feet, make a bunch of ghastly errors, and eventually stumble upon some stuff that looks half decent.