Golden hour macro portrait

[MattJohnRobinson]

I took this with my new macro lens, which is incredibly sharp, but with such detail leaves a lot of editing for a shot like this. I tried a high-pass filter layer for the first time to soften the skin. Also did tons of spot healing brush and healing brush to even the skin out. A few parts seemed too yellow to me to I lessened that. Desaturated the background.

I tried to go with a more natural look that didn't really look edited at all. I can't even tell you how many hours I've poured over this photo...I get lost in editing, being a perfectionist is a curse and blessing.

I'd like to know if there's anything that jumps out at you that could/should be fixed. Thoughts in general appreciated.

[MattJohnRobinson]

Immediately after I posted this I noticed the stray hairs...which I hadn't spotted...weird.

[Weird Girl]

This looks great! I love how sharp it is and think you did a great job making it look natural! It's frustrating because I want to be able to do edits like this and even take awesome SOOC shots... i know practice makes perfect but I just want to be good! A photo like this is definitely something to aspire too. Thanks for sharing it!

[Weird Girl]

After looking at it more, the only thing I would change is to keep her little freckles- unless she asked for them to be removed. I like freckles and they are a permenant part of us- I even have a favorite freckle on my face! LOL

[MattJohnRobinson]

Thank you!

I appreciate your nice comments. This sort of picture is so easy to do! The lighting's only from the sun, about 30 minutes prior to sunset. It's great because the subject can look off into the sunset (although looking directly at the sun still = bad!) and have their face be lit up quite beautifully without having to squint. Try it and I'm sure you'll get something gorgeous!

Even more so I appreciate the suggestion. You know what, I would have liked to have kept the freckles. When I'm zoomed in scanning around and editing every single little thing, I forget to think about what is really a blemish and what's not. You make a good point. Although, those freckles are lost forever in this final version, like 500 history steps back probably, haha.

[klr]

Looks lovely to me! Her eyes look beautiful. I loveeeee this hour of the day with a passion. I always try and schedule shoots around it.

[daveallyn]

Originally Posted by MattJohnRobinson

Although, those freckles are lost forever in this final version, like 500 history steps back probably, haha.

Just thinking out loud here, could you duplicate the background layer, move the copy past the edit layer, and mask out everything but the freckles?

[Edsport]

I used Imageomic to soften the skin and saturated her eyes to give them some pop.
Before and after...

[MattJohnRobinson]

I do like what you've done with the skin, except that you've kept the shine on her forehead and cheek. And you've also introduced some strange artifact on her lips. And unfortunately it doesn't look like Kim anymore because you've completely changed her eyes...

[happyaperture7]

You did a wonderful job with this...I tend to be a portrait PP perfectionist too, so I know what you mean.

My only critique would be the smoothing on her nose...usually people's noses are very well defined; in the sooc you can see some of the pores and texture. However, this is completely lost in the edit. I know smooth skin is wonderful, but I think you generally want it to look as though they simply have a flawless complexion.

I know this is an incredibly hard thing to do (clear the skin but keep the definition), and I am by no means an expert at it! You did an excellent job, and I love the rest of the photo.