Professional Post Production for Model Photography
Learn how to edit your photographs to give them that magic touch seen in the magazines. This article is a continuation of a case study tutorial on: Professional Lighting for Model Photography.
Starting with the Right Photograph
If you followed my Professional Lighting tutorial about setting up two strobe lights for photographing fashion, you will know where the image we are starting with came from.
You can also start with a professional taken photo from stock photo websites, or from any of your own projects.
Original Shot
This is how raw image looks like. It was shot with Canon 400D, using kit lens 18mm-55mm at 55mm, f16 and exposure 1/125. ISO I used was 100 to keep noise level as low as possible, and my white balance was set to Flash light as we were shooting with strobe lights.
I have to say that when I chose this shot from whole bunch taken, I was pretty happy with it already. But my domain says that everything can be better, even if it seems to be perfect already.
It is very important to know what you want to do, before you start, to avoid complications in the process.
What I didn’t like straight away, was the shape of the bottom part of models face. Also, some colors seem to be a little bit off.
Photoshops Camera Raw
I like to use Photoshops Camera Raw, as it is integrated with Adobe Bridge and Photoshop, making my life a bit easier.
I use Adobe Camera raw to fix colors to my own liking. I tweaked Temperature and Tint a little bit.
Next was fixing Vibrance and Saturation to even out some imperfections of the skin tones.
Last adjustment was changing of overall colour tones of the image. To do this I used the Split Toning tool in Camera Raw
Don’t be Afraid to play around
Color changes, contrast, saturation etc of an image are a very personal thing. It all depends on the effect you want to achieve.
Don’t be afraid to move these sliders! If something goes wrong in Camera Raw, you can always use Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac) to go back one step or Ctrl+Alt+Z (Win) / Cmd+Alt+Z (Mac) to go back step further.
If you are not happy with what you got, just click on Camera Raw Defaults
Once you have the colors you are after, hit Open Image button to open it in Photoshop.
This is how my shot looks like:
Rollover the image to see the difference that our adjustments made.
Skin Imperfections
After opening the photograph in Photoshop, the first thing you want to do is get rid of all the dust you have on your sensor, spots, blemishes etc. on the models face. I do this all with the Patch tool.
You have to be very careful, as this technique if over done tends to change, or even blur skin texture.
It takes time to master this technique, but trust me, it is worth that time practicing it.
Defining Face Shape
Having dealt with imperfections in our photo, it is time to sculpt our models face a little bit with the Liquify tool. I mentioned earlier that in this shot, chin area is my main focus.
I like when the face is more defined by sharper lines in general, but that is personal preference.
Airbrushing
There are billions of airbrushing tutorials, everyone has their own way of doing it.
I like when it is done as natural as possible, but that can be achieved only if you did good work removing spots to begin with!
I always airbrush with the Stamp tool with opacity set to very low, around 20%, and by hand. This allows us to sculpt a models face even more.
As you can see difference between our before and after are very few. This is because it is very easy to go one step to far and change our model into an overdone plastic doll.
Dodging & Burning
As we come closer to the finishing the image, Dodge & Burn becomes a useful tool.
Again, be wary of overdoing it, as it might create an unnatural effect, and ruin all our hard work.
Too dark? Too Bright?
To avoid an unnatural look, I zoom in and out, all the time, back and forth.
Sometimes it is a good idea to take few minutes brake from looking at the image to get your judgement back on track.
Finishing Touches
Now when most of our work is done, it’s time for finishing touches.
I darkened the background a bit and added a warming photo filter, to get that “punch” with a warm touch.
Rollover the image to be stunned by the end result!
You’re welcome to download the source files from this project to take a closer look if you wish. I hope you enjoyed the process and results.
46 Comments
Photoshop tutorials, from beginner to advanced. photo manipulation, icon design, text effects, interface, layout, painting, photo effects, psd tuts, maxon cinema 4d, designing.
Flag as inappropriatehttp://photoshopcs8.co.cc
lurv it alot,cant wait to try it out
Flag as inappropriatenice case study, i enjoyed it! thanks
Flag as inappropriatewe do provide retouching services.
Flag as inappropriateWow what a photography. Its really nice.
Flag as inappropriateThis is amazing, so easy to understand and to do, I can’t wait to try this out. Thanks!
Flag as inappropriateThis is amazing, so easy to understand and to do, I can’t wait to try this out. Thanks!
Flag as inappropriateIn this photoshop tutorial we will learn to design a clean website layout. … This photoshop tutorial show you how to design a very beautiful and shining …
Flag as inappropriatethanks.. find more best tutorials here http://newsclub1.com
Great post! Enjoyed reading it! Cheers for posting!
Flag as inappropriateGreat retouching!
I like it that it’s kind of natural, not overly processed!
Also, the steps were nicely explained!
Flag as inappropriateThanks, Maciej!
“to be stunned by the end result!”
Flag as inappropriateI love tutorial9! :)
This is a good tutorial, but this really hits hard on the ethics of photo manipulation. I mean I have no problem with physical tweaking, but seriously, in some cases we’re creating images that people are trying to achieve, which simply aren’t possible.
Flag as inappropriateSmooth touching….. not so far from the original photo…
Flag as inappropriateGreat post! Very informative, really enjoyed reading it! Cheers for posting!
Flag as inappropriatethis is very basic., top-line and overall uninformative.
Flag as inappropriateDownload60s.com is a graphic designing website. photoshop tutorials.
Flag as inappropriatehttp://download60s.com
I agree with Grover!.
Flag as inappropriateThe “Download the original Image” just give a small jpg file?
Flag as inappropriateInteresting article, thanks!
Flag as inappropriateFantastic tips, thanks for sharing.
Flag as inappropriateEven though I think it’s nice of you to show what to do, you’re not showing HOW to do them – which I think is the core of a tutorial. I know that there are theory posts, but if yours is one, then really make it one.
Flag as inappropriateReally nice tutorial and great idea for the before vs. after roll over. Thank you.
Flag as inappropriateAm I the only one who found this article pretty useless? You basically just listed the tools in Photoshop you used without explaining anything about how or why you used them.
Flag as inappropriateditto
Flag as inappropriateThis post makes me think; “are none of the photos real anymore?” [2]
This is what I call that a pro touch. NICE!
I wanna see real woman like this too… :-)
Flag as inappropriateGreat Job, But why download PSD and the file is JPG?
Flag as inappropriateOur error, thanks for letting us know.
Flag as inappropriateThat model is going to be pissed when she sees how much weight you took off of her :)
Otherwise, great, subtle retouch though.
Flag as inappropriateAnswering “are none of the photos real anymore?”
No! And surprisingly they never were! :)
All of the techniques shown in above article, were used almost since photography was born! Only difference is that it is all done on the computer now, not in the darkroom.
Best and most known example would be Richards Avedon photography. Have you ever seen one of his shots before postproduction? – nothing special except very correct analogue shot. It was postproduction that made it so amazing.
Photography as a medium, fashion photography to be more specific have to sell… Be colourful and eye catching.
So it doesn’t matter how much you have manipulated the shot! Most important is to end up with image that doesn’t show that it was manipulated.
The only technique used, that is unique for computer editing is Liquifying, changing facial structure. But I suppose that is one of the advantages of developing photographs on your screen, not in the darkroom.
peace!
Flag as inappropriateVery well put together and the outcome looked quite amazing. Awesome job!
Flag as inappropriateGood tutorial, but altering the facial shape is a little beyond retouching I think. Don’t you still want the photo to look like the person but slightly improved?
Flag as inappropriateThats why is labeled post-production, and not retouching.
Flag as inappropriateThis tutorial definitely didn’t go into theory for the best way to make someone look in a photo. Instead, it touched on the techniques for if your project requires that.
We’d definitely love a guide that goes deeper into the theory behind design choices like this though :)
Flag as inappropriateThe “Download PSD” downloads a .jpg?
Flag as inappropriateFail
That’s an awesome tutorial!
Flag as inappropriateVery good quality photos too, it’s a pleasure to learn from it.
Of course they ain’t. Havn’t you seen the Britney before and after shots? :)
Flag as inappropriateI agree with Johan de Jong,
It looks like it is normal to retouch someone this much, but I prefer to keep it as real as possible.
Other than that, well explaind ;)
Flag as inappropriateWow, it’s amazing to see what just a few simple things can do to create such great results!
Flag as inappropriateHmmm… makes me think; “are none of the photos real anymore?”
Personally I use Lightroom for post production and import the modified tiff to Photoshop for ‘cleaning up’ (eg in one of my lenses there’s a small blurry area).
Flag as inappropriatethat’s why model “photography” is mostly lies. sad, sad world.
but good technical job nonetheless.
Flag as inappropriateAll lies,yes. But nonetheless we can learn the technical stuff and use it for other stuff.
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