Bridal: Editing Suggestions

[Akissavi]

Hello :)

I took this portrait of a friend of mine but as you can see it needs some work.
How would you edit this photo? I'm new to Photoshop so please keep that in mind for any instructions you may be so kind to provide.

Thank you!!

[Akissavi]

P.s. Feel free to critique this photo. I would appreciate any commentary for improvement.

Thanks again.

[OTRphoto]

It's not that bad of a photo to start out with. It just needs a lil adjusting.

I adjusted the levels to whiten up the dress and lighten her up a bit, booted the contrast up a bit, ran a surface blur to smooth out her skin some, ran a glow action and added a vinette.

Just my take on it...

[Steve Margulis]

Unfortunately, I can't play with PS at work, but I'd like to say that it's a pretty good photo to start with. I like how you let the train of her dress fill the lower space behind the bride.

[fstops]

the color change mel did helps a lot.
i would also do some cosmetic clean-up as well.
1- fill in holes on her hair to make them look fuller
2- clean-up stray hair around her head
3- soften the folds under her jaw (caused by twisting of the neck)
4- straighten out the bulge on her back (where the edge of the dress meet her skin)
5- remove the "rat tail" hair hanging down on her right (very distracting, it leads my eyes away from her face)
6- remove spectacular highlight on her nose
7- remove the triangular shadow on her right side (between her hair and the veil)

[Akissavi]

You all have been a tremendous help - thank you!

Mjae69, I think the edited photo looks gorgeous. I really appreciate you doing that. Is the glow action available for download somewhere or did you create it yourself? I found the levels & contrast but could you be a little more specific on the blur? I like how the face is still sharp but everything else looks soft. Nice job!

Steve, I agree...had to fill up the space & the veil worked quite well. If you have any other comments, by all means, please let me know.

Fstops, you & I are on the same sheet of music here. I too noticed every suggestion you listed but I'm not familiar enough with Photoshop on how to make those changes. If you have time would you mind pointing me into the right direction? I have browsed the web for tutorials but it is taking an excessive amount of time to actually find what applies. I have roughly forty photos I am planning to give my friend as a wedding gift so I hope to have them all edited very soon.

Again, thanks everyone! :)

[luis_relampago]

here is my take a bit on the dramatic side, hope you guys like the idea.

[Akissavi]

Luis_Relampago - thanks for sharing, great idea! How did you do that?

[luis_relampago]

I duplicated the layer and did some skin softening technique using the surface blur, after that I did a curves adjustment layer to bring the contrast more and also the color a bit more strong. After that I flatten the image and made another copy layer to burn the background changing the mode of that layer to luminosity and I also put a mask to select just the background and that was basically it.
Let me recomend you the www.kelbytraining.com exelent video classes by the pros in this business

[Akissavi]

Luis_relampago....my goodness, that's a nice effect & was quick! You make it sound so easy! Forgive me for what I'm about to ask here, but is the "surface blur" in the Filter menu just as "blur" or did you use one of the others? When I use that option it blurs the entire picture, the brides face does not remain sharp. I found the Curves so I'm good there. But where can I find the "flatten" tool - what does it do? How about the "luminosity"? I can't locate anything in the Help index on that one. Thank you much if you can help any further!

[luis_relampago]

The surface blur is under the Filter> Blur> Surface Blur on Photoshop CS2 or CS3 version.
The shorcut for flatten an image is (Ctrl + Shift + E) and to flatten with copy is (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E)
The layer mode is under the layer palette just under the layer tab usually is under normal but you can right click and see a list, at the bottom is luminosity.

[Akissavi]

Luis_relampago, I'm glad you sent the reference to KelbyTraining.com I will definitely check it out. It looks like it's time for an upgrade to CS3 as well. :) Thanks again!

[OTRphoto]

Luis pointed you to the surface blur...

The 'glow' I added is an action called "Dave Beaman's Ethereal Glow". It's available as a free action download at ATNcentral.

I applied it and then reduced the opacity of it way down

[Akissavi]

Thank you - thank you - thank you everyone!! :D

[fstops]

all of the clean-ups i mentioned can be accomplished using clone tool. except for soften the folds under jaw line. you can try soft healing brush for this. let me know if you need further help. good luck.