Candace retouched (caution, way over the borderline)

OK, so I've toughed it out for about 4 hours and actually managed to completely retouch/resize an entire image in photoshop CS4 - what a friggin' ordeal! Believe it or not - 25 layers :rolleyes:
Have I missed anything?

You have more patience than I.
It is a beautiful portrait of a beautiful woman.

It is so close to perfect that I had to really scrutinize it.
You may want to get do something about the light at the end of her nose and I see a very small blemish or two just above the light line.
It is so close, I don't know what anyone expects as this isn't my area.
The very small blemishes might show up in a larger size but what's a face without texture?
I think those eyes are really, really great and I'm glad she didn't give me direct eye contact when I was younger or I might still be dreaming.

Jet, your retouch is beautiful. Well done, and i don't think it's over done at all. Magazine cover worthy. Great shot also, the fur the composition, everything works here!! one of the best portraits i've seen here :)

Very nice job.

(See you in Hell)

Ridiculously good. Nice job

Great job !
Beautiful lady

i know nothing about doing anything like that but I also think you did a bang up job. Magazine quality for sure.

Mr. Jet another great PP and pic from you....is one of the nicest I have seen from you. :thumbsup:

Since the name of the game here is "picky" I have 3 possible tiny improvements. Eye brow to my right (her left) it a bit overdone in the end (over the nose) it too rounded and makes it a bit fake looking. Try to make it a bit lest rounded I guess.

The other thing is....personally I would like the "string of hair" on the forehead removed...over her left eye. Just the 2 or 3 hairs to the bottom. I´m doubtful about that last detail...makes look natural though if you remove it there is a patch of hair right above that will preserve this natural look also...don´t know.

And finally the highlight on her left eye stops in the iris...incising its length will look more natural I guess.

Hats off Mr. Jet.

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Originally Posted by draymorton

Very nice job.

(See you in Hell)

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LOL:D :thumbsup:

I agree, Jet. This is a fine shot to begin with, but your good work has improved just enough to bring it up another level.
Really fine No nitpiks from me here.

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Originally Posted by BlueRob

I have 3 possible tiny improvements. Eye brow to my right (her left) it a bit overdone in the end (over the nose) it too rounded and makes it a bit fake looking. Try to make it a bit lest rounded I guess.

And finally the highlight on her left eye stops in the iris...incising its length will look more natural I guess.

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Done and done (though I'm not sure I like the catchlight extensions)

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Originally Posted by BlueRob

The other thing is....personally I would like the "string of hair" on the forehead removed...over her left eye. Just the 2 or 3 hairs to the bottom. I´m doubtful about that last detail...makes look natural though if you remove it there is a patch of hair right above that will preserve this natural look also...don´t know.

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The problem is that it's not just the hair, but the shadow that needs to be reworked and with the background tone gradient, it just ain't worth it. Nearly went blind removing well over 100 stray hairs from the right cheek (hard to see in the resize, but my eyes still hurt from that part!)

So, if they bother you that much, I'll be happy to send you a copy of the file so YOU can fix 'em :D :lol:

Thanks to everyone who took a look and left a comment. I'm glad everybody was as pleased with the result as I was! You stare at a shot for that long and you tend to overlook things that are more obvious to a fresh pair of eyeballs. Incidentally, this shot almost didn't get taken. Had been doing some more formal headshots and she was using the mink stole we had in the studio to keep her shoulders warm between lighting adjustments. When I told her we were done, she pulled it up over her head, I grabbed the camera off the set cart, and it turned out to be my favorite of the whole evening.

I'd rather be lucky than good any day :lol:

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Originally Posted by jetrim

Done and done (though I'm not sure I like the catchlight extensions)



The problem is that it's not just the hair, but the shadow that needs to be reworked and with the background tone gradient, it just ain't worth it. Nearly went blind removing well over 100 stray hairs from the right cheek (hard to see in the resize, but my eyes still hurt from that part!)

So, if they bother you that much, I'll be happy to send you a copy of the file so YOU can fix 'em :D :lol:

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AH! Yes the eyebrow looks much better now along with the tweaked eye reflection :thumbsup:


As for the matter regarding the hair in the forehead I think you are right its not worth it :D
I did not realize about the shadow and its difficulties.:aureola:

Perfect!

I have a question for which I should probably know the answer.
When I saved your image and opened it in photoshop elements 6, the image was much warmer than it appears on screen here.
Why?

Excellent work jet, AWESOME lighting! Perfectly placed.

I do have a super nitty-nit-pick, if I may. Her skin and face look more natural in the original, her make-up looks modest and convincingly looks part of her face. In your edit - the fact that she is wearing mascara, lipstick and such is more obvious. She also looks a tiny tad bit too processed in color saturation. I tried an edit and simply a -10 adjustment in saturation made her complexion and skin color look more natural to me. *edit - I also tried a saturation adjustment of -60, which looked really nice too with very soft pleasing hues. I think that a BW conversion would also look very good.

I feel silly nitpicking such a terrific shot. Color me ignorant but, what makes you call it 'way over the borderline'.

Frog - that usually happens when people post AdobeRGB, but he posted an sRGB image. What internet browser are you using?

Anbesol,
the "way over the borderline" comment was sort of an inside joke response to a comment Caleb made in his "2 headshots" thread about retouching being borderline unethical (this was also the reason for Dray's "see you in hell" comment). As far as the natural look, while I see what you're saying, natural wasn't the intent. This woman is a musician who wanted something a bit more glamorous for self promotion of her nightclub act.

I did do a B&W conversion after reading your comment though, and I like it that way too:

I like the b/w version even better. Outta the park.

Man that is nice. Really sharp focus on things like parka fur is way sexier than it ought to be.

Love that last b&w version. Outstanding

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Originally Posted by Anbesol

Frog - that usually happens when people post AdobeRGB, but he posted an sRGB image. What internet browser are you using?

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Mozilla Firefox

Love the B&W! - TF

Little surprise here. This is some of your best work by far, jet. Congrats on a very well-deserved feature.

Hey congrats on the sticky!
That B&W version looks awesome too. Hats off Jet kick @ss pics. :thumbsup:

Yeah congrats on the stick.

Congrats on well deserved sticky Jet!

Jet,

These are unbelievably good. I love the B&W its terrific.

Roger R.

PS. whats the date for the hell party?