Tips and tricks

[private]

Hey guys,

I am looking for little pearls of wisdom when photographing and processing photos of people.

This is what I have learned.
processing - I duplicate the layer and then apply an ever so slight glacian blur (1.5 or less) and then erase the eyes. flatten the image and the eyes pop without the image looking processed.

Photographing: Talk and tell silly jokes - kids LOVE potty talk.

Can you share yours?

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by private

kids LOVE potty talk.

So true! I think every picture you've seen of my daughter with a smile on her face is a direct result of the words "fart" or "poopypants", or any variation of the sort.

Either that or my son stands behind me and moons her.

[kencaleno]

-To smooth skin in portraits

Ctrl+J
Click on quick mask
Brush tool 35 soft
Press ”D” Paint face except for eyes, eyebrows and nostrils, and lips
(If you go over the edges, press X and erase, then x again to continue…)
Press “Q
Select “inverse”
Select> feather 10 pixels
Filters> Blur> Gaussian Blur 3 pixels
Filter> Noise> Add noise 2.5%
“uniformed” and “monochrome” checked
Flatten/save

Regards, ken

[private]

Ken - I am assuming those directions are for Cs3?

[kencaleno]

Originally Posted by private

Ken - I am assuming those directions are for Cs3?

No, I use CS but i believe you can use these steps on earlier versions of photoshop.regards, Ken

[peeperita]

if you have a nice sharp image to begin with but the lighting is less than......i am a big fan of layering my whites and blacks over areas that are less than or overexposed(respectively).....just big blobs of diffused white or black and set to soft light blending will often bring out details or even out to a studio lighting look without a big investment in lights....

peeper

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by peeperita

if you have a nice sharp image to begin with but the lighting is less than......i am a big fan of layering my whites and blacks over areas that are less than or overexposed(respectively).....just big blobs of diffused white or black and set to soft light blending will often bring out details or even out to a studio lighting look without a big investment in lights....

peeper

Peeper, can you show a before and after example of that? Maybe in the before & after section?

By the way...I'm still trying to think of something to add to this thread...I know I've got something rattling around in my head that would be worth posting...

[peeperita]

susan, i could try that.....

now, it might take me a bit before i do, cuz it involves taking screen shots to illustrate .....

peeper

[stitchbug]

Originally Posted by private

Hey guys,

I am looking for little pearls of wisdom when photographing and processing photos of people.

This is what I have learned.
processing - I duplicate the layer and then apply an ever so slight glacian blur (1.5 or less) and then erase the eyes. flatten the image and the eyes pop without the image looking processed.

Photographing: Talk and tell silly jokes - kids LOVE potty talk.

Can you share yours?

not great with PS myself....what does "flatten the image" mean?
i do a gaussian blur layer and erase the eyes, but i have no idea what "flatten the image" means!

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by stitchbug

not great with PS myself....what does "flatten the image" mean?
i do a gaussian blur layer and erase the eyes, but i have no idea what "flatten the image" means!

After you've done the layer work, go back and click on layers, then flatten image. Basically, it combines the layers ("flattens" them) into one. Does that make sense?