Tweaking my post

[CaptainTom]

I'm trying to refine my post processing and would like your opinions.
Is this overdone ?
Before and After

[andyz]

It is a tad lighter and smoother. Not overdone at all, IMHO. Scrolling up and down to compare, they seem very close to me. So if your goal is to retouch in a subtle way, you are there.

[CaptainTom]

narrowed the face
increased the bust
increased the butt
thinned the arms and legs
softened the skin

[andyz]

Damn. I think it is very subtle. The legs and arms l saw and the smoothing.

So I'd say it is very good, if the client likes it. I certainly wouldn't say it was over worked.

[hhscr]

I agree with Andy, it looks fine to me.

[MicWayWal]

Tom,

First of all I am not sure of your assignment. I am going to assume it is to make the girl more shapely by hiding the "bad areas" and make the "good areas" better.

I going to disagree with my fellow TPFs. It is overdone in some areas and in some areas she was corrected in the wrong way. Mine will be overdone but it is how I would treat it if it was a client of mine.

You can make things look bigger in two ways. 1. Make the items bigger. Duhh! or 2. Make the things around it smaller.
I think you should have chosen the latter path because of the following issues:

-You made her look like she had a bad boob job and not nice natural breasts --- she has a nice shape it just needed lifting, not expanded. Get rid of the hot spot on her left breast.
-You made her butt look bigger and cartoon-ish --- make the legs and back around the butt smaller and it will make the rear shapelier without adding bulk.
-You shrunk the whole mask of the face --- all you had to do is shrink the jaw lines.
-You didn't touch the stomach --- it needed the most work and made her look better overall.
-Her front leg is way too big --- make it smaller.
-Get rid of the flab on her arm at her pit and her elbow.
-Get rid of the straps on her back
-Get rid of the dark area on the side of her stomach that shows her pooch.
-Clean your white background up --- Whiter background will make the subject smaller.

After spending endless hours with models this is how they want to shape up, here is the general rule: Get rid of things - Don't add things.

[MicWayWal]

Side by side comparison of Toms version and mine.

[andyz]

Except for the thigh, I think it looks great. I think you went too thin for my taste. But I certainly see I have a lot to learn. There were techniques here that really worked well. (If this were an old TV show, the pebble would still be in your hand. ;) )

How long did it take to do these changes?

[MicWayWal]

The time frame for this was about 15 minutes. But that is because it was a small file. To do it right with a full size file would take about 20-30 minutes.