JUST A LITTLE HELP PLEASE!!

[msgsnapshot]

I’m just starting out I want to try some portraits. Like anything else I don’t have a lot of time. I mean hours on end with Photoshop. I hear “Portrait Professional” software is very good. Is this software user friendly and does it work? I’m not looking for the supermodel lay out. Any help would be nice. I do have CS3 and I’m ok with it, but it takes me for ever to retouch a portrait

[kencas]

Don't really know if I can help you...

I'm a bit old school in that I like to portray the subject as they truly are, and not as something modified with some software! I would infinitely prefer to work with the available light - whether that be either natural, reflected or man made - to best flatter and accentuate the subject in their setting.

But certainly a quick Photoshop layer with a gaussian blur, and then erase the bits you want to keep sharp would be a very very quick start. From there you can play with layer masks, etc, etc.

However - if you really want to try out some software, try Portraiture by Imagenomic (from http://www.imagenomic.com/pt.aspx ). It would have to be one of the best that I have given a go of, and you can certainly run the trial version. But beyond that, I had given up with plugins... :)

Hooroo,

Ken.