Please Crit This Post Processing

[wamguy89]

Hi, this is my first time really doing some involved photoshop work on a portrait, and I was wondering if you all could give me some ideas of what I could do better in the future... Here is the before and after and then just the after... If you want to view larger, check my flickr (link in sig).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2736/4272257268_33a01bde1b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2693/4271513323_1333d70bf9.jpg

[corey.b]

...maybe its just me, but I think that her face is a bit blue? Just noticed that now...

Other than that it looks good to me :D

[wamguy89]

Oh, no... I hope that my monitor isn't badly calibrated or something... :( Are you on a windows computer by any chance? The gamma and other things contribute to that kind of problem....

[ni$mo350]

Pretty decent but like stated above the face is a tad blue. I'd try to warm it up a bit. I'd also suggest working on the eyes (or not working on them haha) they seem to over done. The white reflecting off the pupil looks enhanced and not necessarily in a good way. Try to keep it as natural as possible without bringing too much attention to it, unless of course that is your intent. Hope that helps.

[wamguy89]

^Thanks a lot! Yeah, I think it should be warmed up a little, too, probably. I am just worried that my monitor isn't properly calibrated, though... It doesn't seem that "blue" to me... And yeah, the eyes do look a little unnatural. Thanks for the criticism. I'll definitely keep those things in mind! :)

[ni$mo350]

^Thanks a lot! Yeah, I think it should be warmed up a little, too, probably. I am just worried that my monitor isn't properly calibrated, though... It doesn't seem that "blue" to me... And yeah, the eyes do look a little unnatural. Thanks for the criticism. I'll definitely keep those things in mind! :)

Anytime, we all have our problems and that's what this site is for. I had the same problem for the longest time doing too much work. Now I do it until I'm content with the overall pic and then take a few steps back.

[EOS_JD]

The eyes are not good. Way too much editing on them. I would not be happy giving a client that. Teeth stand out too much. THese edits should be subtle.

Maybe just a tad too much contrast too but the above edits are where the portrait fails.
Only way to calibrate properly is using a hardware device like the eye one or spyder type coloromiter device.

[robertoperez]

Oh my god! That edit scares the life out of me. You've sucked all the life out of the model. You've whitened the eyes far too much! They don't look real...it's very creepy.

[wamguy89]

Hahaha ok thanks guys... This is the first time that I've really attempted anything like this, so keep that in mind, too! Thanks for the crit, though.

[EOS_JD]

[quote=wamguy89;9388395]Hahaha ok thanks guys... This is the first time that I've really attempted anything like this, so keep that in mind, too! Thanks for the crit, though.

To whiten eyes, I make a selection of the white area in the eye using the magic selection tool. I feather the selection by 3 pixels then I look at the channels pallet and sect normally the red channel. I make a copy (control c) and then select the rgb channel again then paste my selection as a new layer (control v).

Now reduce the opacilty until you see just lightly the veins in the eye again. (Same process for the teeth)

Regards the iris, you can make a selection around this and again feather by 2 or 3 pixels. Make a copy of this and paste to a new layer (ctrl c then ctrl v)

Now change the blending mode of the new layer to screen and lower the opacity right doen (say start at 10%). This will lighten the eye. You can add some saturation/contrast by creating a copy of this layer and changing the blending mode this time to soft light and again adjust the opacity.

Sounds a lot of work but literally takes a minute and you can do both eyes if you can make your selections on a single layer. The shift key allows you to add to a selection.

[wamguy89]

^Wow, thanks a lot for the info! I will definitely give that a shot next time. That sounds like a much better way to go about it...

[EOS_JD]

THere are many ways of which that is one. :) nO BOTHER.

[gh patriot]

Teeth and eyes way to white. Looks fake.