Make sure you click on the image to see it full size.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but my opinion is that the first retouch shown is way too blurry. It's destroying the skin texture: the person does not look real anymore. I would rather go for just very light adjustments on any undesired local imperfection, if any.
Phil1923 said:Personally, I agree
Yes Phil I'm ols school I like cigars, wooden boats and real breasts.
Here is a shot I grabbed quickly tonight at home (in front of a hanging un-ironed sheet). This is about as far as I like to go with skin smoothing. One should never reveal the age of a lady, but let's just say she said goodbye to her 30s some time ago. My goal is to achieve nice smooth skin without looking too blurred or fake. This particular subject did have very nice skin anyway. It should be also noted that the original full sized image looks a look sharper and more detailed than this resampled jpeg.
Best regards,Brian.
Great shot and a GREAT FACE!!!
Thanks David!
That is a colleague/friend of my friend Lea. They stopped by on their way to their work Christmas Party. I grabbed a few shots of the 2 of them, some together and some individually. They were talking to one another non-stop (probably excited about the party), so I had to time the shots while the opportunities arose, lol. In that particular shot, as in a couple of others, I suddenly said "Hey Imelda!" and took the shot as she turned around. Some of the other shots were more posed.
Brian said:so I had to time the shots while the opportunities arose, lol. In that particular shot, as in a couple of others, I suddenly said "Hey Imelda!" and took the shot
I prefer shots that catch a moment of real life they always touch you later.
Brian said:In that particular shot, as in a couple of others, I suddenly said "Hey Imelda!" and took the shot as she turned around.
Brian,
Once again you have demonstrated your superb control over skin texture!
I do have a query about the expression though. I may well be barking up the wrong tree here, so please do not be offended.
It struck me that there was something a tiny bit strained about Imelda's expression, as if she had been putting on a smile to please you rather than because she felt genuine mirth. I think this is because the eyes and the mouth do not quite match : the mouth is smiling more than the eyes.
I know there is great variation between people in the eye/ mouth correspondence. I once took a photo of a little girl who really hated to be photographed. She almost would not pose for me, and kept hiding behind her father. Then suddenly she put on a very big smile, but kept her eyes ferociously serious. Her parents were thrilled with the photo (the only one I had been able to take - apparently one more than several other photographers had achieved !). I pointed out that the expression denoted fury and resentment, rather than the cheekiness which they had said they wanted, but they insisted the expression was characteristic, and so we went with it.
Anyway I tried to vary the eyes in your picture in an attempt to work out whether this mismatch (as it seemd to me) really was an important factor. I am sure you could make a much better job of this manipulation. I only did it roughly just to give the general effect.
Anyway, here are the three versions (the first being a copy of the photo you posted). You probably need to click on the image to get all three to show up. Which smile looks the most natural?
Gareth said:the mouth is smiling more than the eyes.
I think it has been along day and she's a bit tired but very happy.