Need some tips i.e. "Make me skinny..."

[Daylon]

Okay, shooting my first engagement pics - she wants me to "make her look skinny (er) "...

I'm not photoshop wiz and def can't do the stuff they do in that Dove commercial - but what are some basics I can apply?

It's my understanding you can use the liquify tool to slim people down - I've played with it a little but I don't know the workflow well enough to keep it from looking all wavy and fake.

Was thinking maybe "stretch" the picture vertically 10 percent or so?

I'm not trying to take 50 pounds off both of them, just slim them down a little...

any / all help much appreciated

[iCe]

I guess "an hour a day on an elliptical" is probably not a good suggestion (she looks fine to me btw, I was just being a smart a.. rear...) Tracy (posts in the Human Forum or whatever it's called) is a genius at this kind of stuff... but his people usually aren't bothered with a lot of clothing...

Your sig line is excellent...

[Daylon]

Good idea, I'll PM him - you're right, I'm not looking for bikini perfectness, just "i'm gonna look great in my wedding dress" sorta thing.

Thanks for the kudos on the sig - can't remember where I read / heard it, but you can boil down pretty much all human conflict from the history of time to that one line... one o them thar universal truths...

Originally Posted by iCe

I guess "an hour a day on an elliptical" is probably not a good suggestion (she looks fine to me btw, I was just being a smart a.. rear...) Tracy (posts in the Human Forum or whatever it's called) is a genius at this kind of stuff... but his people usually aren't bothered with a lot of clothing...

Your sig line is excellent...

[iCe]

Originally Posted by Daylon

Good idea, I'll PM him - you're right, I'm not looking for bikini perfectness, just "i'm gonna look great in my wedding dress" sorta thing.

Thanks for the kudos on the sig - can't remember where I read / heard it, but you can boil down pretty much all human conflict from the history of time to that one line... one o them thar universal truths...

I kind of enjoy psycho - logy so the sig line caught my eye. If you're a reader (or audio book listener to-er) check out Daniel (or ial) Goleman's "Social Intelligence". It's one of the best reads on the subject of people and how they interact. Easy to read to. It has to be. I've either read or listened to it 12 times and I'll read it again soon...

[ramblinray]

Just a quick 2 minutes of liquify. Taking more time would have resulted in a better end product, but just a quicky to show how easy it is

[Daylon]

Thanks for the quick edit - that's usually what my results look like tho - a little smeared. I think she's looking for something a bit more dramatic - like 10-15 pounds lighter, thats why initially I was thinking stretch the vertical by 10 percent or so...... just not sure how to do it in PS...

Imagenomics should come out with a "Skinnyizer" filter to compliment Portraiture...

Originally Posted by ramblinray

Just a quick 2 minutes of liquify. Taking more time would have resulted in a better end product, but just a quicky to show how easy it is

[ramblinray]

Omething to remember that I didn't bother to use this time is the freeze. That way things don't move. The shadow behind her would be a good thing to move while freezing the bark of the tree. You could pick a point in front of her for the freeze and then do a cloning back in of the stretched section. Practice makes perfect as they say.

[Corrie]

A friend asked me to even out her boobs. THAT was a bit of a chore lol.

[Patti Edens]

Interesting. I was curious about your idea of stretching, so I tried it. All I did was increase the canvas size at the top and bottom by 1 inch and then selected the photo and using the free transform tool I stretched it up to the top and down to the bottom of the canvas. It looked tall and skinny, so I expanded the canvas to the left and right. I selected a chunk of the tree and stretched it to the right, selected a chunk of the pasture and stretched it to the left.

They do look slimmer.

I think this could work if done carefully paying attention to the actual amounts and getting the 8 x 10 final or whatever you want with the couple offcenter instead of the way I did it - more stretching on the left and less on the tree or something like that.

But, the liquify tool might be still needed on her neck a bit.

If you want to try the stretching part and you have photoshop, let me know and I'll give you the exact steps.

[The Philos]

I don't know if this is what you're after or if it's too much. Liquify - I masked the tree just outside the shadow and the space between the two of them and feathered the edge a bit. I held shift while using the push tool to limit it to horizontal pushing. Liquify is best when moving slowly in little increments. I also cloned in some of the trees where they began to stretch.

[bobcool]

How is this? Too noticeable?

[pressp]

Here's my liquified version. I also reshaped her back a bit. I hope it's not too much.

Press

[kylebatts]

Well, here is my take on it. I see you already have several, but I thought I would share mine as well.

[Daylon]

MUCH thanks for all the treatments - pulling in her back a bit really made the difference, IMHO.

Unfortunately, spilled wine into my editing laptop, so I can't try any of this stuff for at least another 2-3 weeks.... grrr!

D.

[bthompson]

That is a bummer about your laptop. She looks fine to me, but My suggestion is definitely liquify, use a large brush, and go for her back a tiny bit on the stomach and her chin, but just remember, work in SMALL steps and keep it natural. :)