Mar 10, 2008 | Anthony J Deffina
Hi Kathy,
I can't get too specific on settings because this was done a while ago and I don't remember the numbers. However, here's what I can tell you. I did a slight blur on the background, used the clone tool on her shirt and enhanced the color a bit. Standard stuff. The key to this overall edit is that I used two layers with her. On the back layer, I used unsharp mask to sharpen her based on her eyes and hair. The top layer, here's a neat little trick, I used REDUCE NOISE to soften it paying attention only to her skin. Adjusted the opacity of that layer to my liking based on her skin. Then I erased everything else, using different opacity levels, from the top layer that I wanted to stay sharp. One of the hazzards in using this technique is that you can get some color bleeding into other areas, primarily finger tips and eyes. When this happens in an area that you want to keep soft simply erase that area and use the blur tool to soften it to match. It's usually only a small amount on the edge of something so it's not hard to blend back. There you have it! Hope it helps you out. Thank you for your interest and compliment. Thank you to the editor for choosing this as well! ~Anthony
Mar 1, 2008 | Kaycee Kennedy
Besides making her skin smoother it has really brightened her face up too.
Comments
Mar 10, 2008 | Anthony J Deffina
Hi Kathy, I can't get too specific on settings because this was done a while ago and I don't remember the numbers. However, here's what I can tell you. I did a slight blur on the background, used the clone tool on her shirt and enhanced the color a bit. Standard stuff. The key to this overall edit is that I used two layers with her. On the back layer, I used unsharp mask to sharpen her based on her eyes and hair. The top layer, here's a neat little trick, I used REDUCE NOISE to soften it paying attention only to her skin. Adjusted the opacity of that layer to my liking based on her skin. Then I erased everything else, using different opacity levels, from the top layer that I wanted to stay sharp. One of the hazzards in using this technique is that you can get some color bleeding into other areas, primarily finger tips and eyes. When this happens in an area that you want to keep soft simply erase that area and use the blur tool to soften it to match. It's usually only a small amount on the edge of something so it's not hard to blend back. There you have it! Hope it helps you out. Thank you for your interest and compliment. Thank you to the editor for choosing this as well! ~Anthony
Mar 1, 2008 | Kaycee Kennedy
Besides making her skin smoother it has really brightened her face up too.
Mar 3, 2008 | Will King
Great job. Wow.
Mar 4, 2008 | Emile Abbott
Excellent work to improve the skin tone, sharpen the eyes and enhance the lighting. Great work again Anthony.
Mar 4, 2008 | Anthony J Deffina
Thank you very much everyone. ~Anthony
Mar 6, 2008 | Kathy Lewis
What techniques did you use. Looks awesome!!
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