Photo Editing - Aging Skin

[Bobby]

We have a dear lady on our street - 70+. She is very active, plays tennis almost every day, kayaks with us, walks the beach, etc. etc. But she has kinda weathered skin, and not a few wrinkles.

We recently had a street multi-birthday party and one of us took a lot of photos with a Nikon 12mp unit and there is really one great shot of our neighbor. But you can see every detail on her face.

I am looking for suggestions to edit - have PS CS4. Median filter? Gaussian blur? Anybody know of an inexpensive portrait cleanup program? Some feature in CS4 that I don't know of?

Advice appreciated.

[Peru]

I had read about this a while back, but can't find the article-- I must have forgot to bookmark it.

I think that it said to use a gaussian blurr.

[Wheat King]

One camp might say leave it be... Some of the most stunning photographs are the ones that show reality. If the photo has nice composition, contrast and colour, show reality. Another thing you might try is a close crop of a black and white You can get some stunning results with that with a couple clicks in PS CS4.
Just offering another "lens" to look through before deciding to edit the weathering. <<Groan>>

Here's a tutorial that shows the difference using Gaussian and median filters.

http://www.lunacore.com/photoshop/tutorials/tut020.htm

[Steve Grisetti]

Here's a great professional trick for softening skin in a photo, Bobby.

Open the photo in Photoshop and duplicate the background layer (by dragging it to the New Layer button on the Layers palette).

Apply a Gaussian Blur (in Filters) to this new layer. Not too much. Just enough to soften the wrinkles and still look natural. This is going to blur the entire picture for now, but don't worry about that.

Then take the Eraser tool and choose a soft-edged brush for it. Erase, from this new layer, the parts you want to bring back into focus -- the hair, the eyes, the lips, etc.

What you're doing, in essence, is letting the background show through in certain places -- these will be your focussed areas of the picture. Most of the face, though, will be the blurred or soft-focused layer.

Make sense?

Maybe I should do a tutorial on this. It's a great trick!

[Bill Hunt]

Bobby,

Take a look at this tutorial: http://www.wrigleyvideo.com/videotutorial/tutdes_ppro2_smoothface.htm

It is exactly what you want. While done in PrPro, it's the same in PrE. Think that even the Effects use the same names.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Chuck Engels]

Steve's tip is a good one, I have used it often and it works well.
Got the tip at a Scott Kelby seminar.

Will have to check out the Wrigley link you posted Hunt, don't know if I've ever seen that one.

[Bill Hunt]

Chuck,

I base most of my Track Matte Keying answers on that tutorial. Now, I have to tell the poster to close their eyes, and imagine that we're following something besides the young lady in the tutorial, i.e. fill in the blanks with things like covering a moving logo, follwoing a moving subject with a "spotlight," or similar. Interpolation, and imagination are the key. Most people have "gotten it," and been able to add in the Effect that they want, whether it's soften skin, or something totally different. Still, the process is basicaly the same.

Hunt

BTW Curt is the author of the last two PrPro Classroom in a Book editions, CS3 & CS4.

[Chuck Engels]

So, a little off topic Hunt, but what is a good wine for a Tenderloin Steak and Sea Scallop dinner?
Maybe some Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Baby Asparagus on the side.
Fried Zucchini and Fried Cheese Ravioli for an Appetizer.

[Bill Hunt]

As long as Bobby does not mind, I have two, one a red and one a white.

Just tested this one out Saturday with mains: grilled tenderloin, veal chop, duck, scallops, pork chop and skate wing -
'05 Giannai Gagliardi Barolo. Though I had a Wilamette Chard in reserve, the Barolo went very well. It is a "new style" and is ready much earlier, than traditional Barolos. It is also quite fruit-forward for a Barolo. Personally, I like both styles, but I'd never have tried a "traditional style" with this list of mains.

Second is the white: Caymus (name no longer appears on the label) Conundrum. It's a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Muscat and Viognier. It too is a very fruit-forward wine, and has a lovely nose. It has the heft for beef, but handles seafood perfectly. If the beef is smoked, or grilled, it might be a bit light. We know many carnivores, who cannot/do not do red wines, and none has done anything, but sing the praises of this one, with the beef.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Steve Grisetti]

Hunt, anybody who'd recommend Barolo with tenderloin is okay in my book! You really are a wine expert, aren't you?

And is there any other forum in the world where you can get a great technical tip and a great wine recommendation in the same thread?!

[Bill Hunt]

Steve,

Only on Muvipix!

I do have to admit that, while I love my IT wines, I probably know less about them, than any of the "Big-6" wine countries. Now, while I wish I knew more, it does allow me to order IT wines on many occasions! That is not all bad. There is always room to learn. As they say in so many sports cliches - practice, practice, practice.

Maybe I'd better go grab a Gaja for tonight!

Hunt

PS Bobby, hope I have not messed up your thread...

[Chuck Engels]

And is there any other forum in the world where you can get a great technical tip and a great wine recommendation in the same thread?!

I love this place

[Chuck Engels]

PS Bobby, hope I have not messed up your thread...

Totally my fault, sorry Bobby

[Bobby]

Gosh, talk about mega-hijack

Thanks for all the tips, and I will look through them. I guess I came off a bit un-technical - I have used layers, erase tool, etc. for years. The big question is whether the gaussian blur is going to do the job or not. I will have to play with it. In the past I have also had good success with median, but this case is pretty extreme.

Jamal, I may choose to leave it as-is, and you know - she may actually like it. It is really an excellent, well composed candid shot. I wish the shot was taken with a 3mp phone camera than a D60 (or D90, not sure). Or like Hollywood we should have put Vaseline on the lens...

I will keep y'all posted. In the mean time, I will grab a slug of whatever wine is in the box on top of the dryer. In my house we like BOTH kinds - white AND red (to paraphrase the line in "The Blues Brothers").

[Bill Hunt]

Bobby,

My bad. I thought that you had shot her with the still camera, but in the Video-mode. You are talking about still images, aren't you?

If that is the case, I use bits from the Video tutorial, that I recommended, but obviously applied to the still image. I usually start with a Ctrl+j (Duplicate Layer) and then use Layer Masks to remove the areas, that I do now wish to change, like the eyes and the lips. Then, with a bit of Gaussian Blur, some Healing Brush, and then Blending Modes and Opacity, work this together.

For my lovely wife's magazine covers, I ended with a 20 Layer .PSD, addressing sevral aspects of her face. I even took her hair from my test shots and put it onto the final, as the stylist did not do such a good job with the actual shoot. She liked the hair from the tests, but one of the shots from the final session - except the hair.

Both Ben Wilmore and Scott Kelby have some good tips in their PS books. I have the each author's CS2 version. I also recommend Katrin (Kate) Eismann's Photo Retouching with Photoshop books.

Sorry for my confusion,

Hunt