I need photoshop elements help

[Artdrea]

i just got Photoshop elements 6 for our mac and i'm learning how to use it. the problem is everything i do looks fake or unnatural can you guys give me some pointers to get good at it?

[listenthenspeak]

I think you might need to be a little more specific--what exactly do you want help with editing? Changing to B&W from color? Enhancing color? Getting rid of blemishes?

There's SO much that can be done, even with Elements....you might start by reading some tutorials on here. Take it one thing at a time. I've been trying to improve changing from color to B&W for awhile now. First, I got the basics down, and now I'm refining it to try and get really dynamic contrast in my images. Don't let yourself be overwhelmed by anything, you'll learn it eventually.

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Artdrea

i just got Photoshop elements 6 for our mac and i'm learning how to use it. the problem is everything i do looks fake or unnatural can you guys give me some pointers to get good at it?

What are you trying to accomplish? What are you shooting? Landscapes, portraits, etc??? What look are you after? Can you post a SOOC shot and one that you've worked on in Elements and say what you don't like about it, and what you'd like it to look like?

We're all here to help, just need to know what you would like to do.

[Artdrea]

well right now i'm foscusing on portraits like making people look thinner or like they have makeup on or even something so simple as even sking tone or removing a pimple. i always encounter the same problem it all looks fake.

[SusanH1970]

If you would like to post a SOOC shot and say what you would like done to it, I'd be happy to give it a go.

[Nicole]

It may be the fact that many of the changes that you're trying to make are ones that are really changing the essence of the picture, so that makes it hard to judge it when you're looking at the before and after because the before is the one that can seem much more "real" so the changes you make just seem off. No judgment on doing those things in post-processing, I'm just saying that's what I've encountered when working on some things.

A few searches for tutorials on Google should help you out. You'll probably want to try a few different techniques to see which ones look best and work best for you. For example, here's one technique for applying eye makeup in Photoshop.

And depending what you're changing (e.g. body shape or adding makeup) it also helps to know more about how the body should look / work and how light hits certain parts of the body so that you're getting the right sort of appearance.

[Artdrea]

okay here's the original
tani.jpg

and here's what I did to it
titanya for angel choir (1).jpg


see i think it's a really bad job

[fletch]

Its not that dad for a first try, not there yet but something to work on.

One of the most important elements when doing comping work like this is lighting. It is the first giveaway that all is not well. The light source for the model doesnt fit with the background and therefore it looks fake. Try something simpler first with simple retouching job on the model shot. When you have mastered that you can try, thinning and sculpting features, changing colours of clothes and faking backgrounds.