Skin tone

[achyut]

does the skin look dull in this pic? how can I improve the skin tone?



EXIF:
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure: 1/800
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length:170 mm
ISO Speed : 320

IMG_1078-2 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by achyut

does the skin look dull in this pic? how can I improve the skin tone?



EXIF:
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure: 1/800
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length:170 mm
ISO Speed : 320

IMG_1078-2 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The whole image looks kind of flat.

Happily it's nothing that a quick levels or curves adjustment wouldn't fix easily.

Just bring the exposure up a touch, a little contrast and vibrance would make it pop more than it does right now.

If this is sooc, then it's right along the lines of what I myself would look for.. a solid start, no clipped blacks or blown highlights, it just needs the requisite PP to get it where it deserves to be.

[cyber3d]

I would also consider dropping the background values. Mask her and dropping it 1.5 may be 2 stops.

Playing around with it, I dropped down the background, added a dark vignette, level change on the blouse because it ended up a little to bright. Most importantly, adjusted levels, curves and saturation on the face paying careful attention to the highlights on her cheeks. We think it works well.

Give it a shot and what ever you do, post it. I'd like to see what you've done. Your image is so typical when one has flat natural lighting. It almost always requires a good deal of PP.

[achyut]

@Niresangwa- can you show me a sample?

I dropped the exposure in order to not blow up her cheeks. I guess I have overdone it. I did not want to ruin the skin tone by increasing contrast.

@cyber3d- I will try today. However, I do not use photoshop and at beginner level with Lightroom processing.

[cyber3d]

I can put my test image on my Flickr account and send you a link privately (or I can post it in this thread if you like). You may or may not like it. But, you'll see what others would do in this situation.

[achyut]

could you please post it here?

[cyber3d]

Sure.



It was an interesting portrait to play with. I hope I improved on it.

Oh, sorry I cropped your signature out. I wanted to make her eyes level horizontally and it required a closer crop.

>>click on image for a larger view<<


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[achyut]

@cyber3d

thank you so much!! this looks lots better! I will try if I could do something similar with lightroom. thank you.

[drr0b]

If you want to get more variation in skin tone then Lab is the way to go; of course, it's like anti-makeup because it will pick up all the skin tones. Here is an over-cooked version I made in about 5 minutes... the idea is to do it on a separate layer, then change the opacity to get the look you're after.

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Here it is at about 40% opacity

[Matthew_Scullion]

I'm commenting on this purely to save the thread to my profile as I like the editing job Cyber 3D has done so much!

Nice shot Achyut.