A Post Processing Question - The Eyes

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

As some of you know, I was out in San Diego two weekends ago shooting my
sister's wedding (formals only - no reception). Everything was shot
outdoors on an overcast day with flat lighting. I used a silver reflector
to add a little sparkle. What I failed to notice was that there were some
significant shadows under my sister's eyes in a few of the shots. So, I
need to take care of them in PS.

Here's my question. What plugins do you all like to use for dealing with
puffy eyes and shadows around the eyes?

To see the images, go to:

http://www.pbase.com/walthanks/mosleybreiding

But remember, I hadn't shot a wedding in 25 years and these are unretouched
proofs.

Thanks!

Walt
 
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

The healing tool really works well, have you tried it? DCE tools also
includes "portrait skin cleaner".

"Walt Hanks" <walthanks@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:5cCdndETxO4PETHfRVn-ow@comcast.com...
> As some of you know, I was out in San Diego two weekends ago shooting my
> sister's wedding (formals only - no reception). Everything was shot
> outdoors on an overcast day with flat lighting. I used a silver reflector
> to add a little sparkle. What I failed to notice was that there were some
> significant shadows under my sister's eyes in a few of the shots. So, I
> need to take care of them in PS.
>
> Here's my question. What plugins do you all like to use for dealing with
> puffy eyes and shadows around the eyes?
>
> To see the images, go to:
>
> http://www.pbase.com/walthanks/mosleybreiding
>
> But remember, I hadn't shot a wedding in 25 years and these are
> unretouched
> proofs.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Walt
>
>
 
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

Walt Hanks <walthanks@comcast.net> wrote:

> What I failed to notice was that there were some significant shadows under
> my sister's eyes in a few of the shots. So, I need to take care of them
> in PS.

Yeah, you have what looks like two eye problems going on. The first is that
she has dark circles and "puffies" that would best have been dealt with using
makeup; the second is the shadow problem, which is a common by-product of
overcast lighting and is easy to miss when shooting because our eyes overlook
it (or rather, our brains do, since it's so common).

Unfortunately, you don't have the luxury of applying makeup and correcting
the lighting at this point, so Photoshop it is. Try the healing brush, and
the clone tool. Play with the blending options, in particular "lighten only"
mode. Some color correction ("color" mode) may be needed to deal with the
purplish hue, bringing it more in line with the actual skin tone.

--
Jeremy | jeremy@exit109.com
 
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

"Jeremy Nixon" <jeremy@exit109.com> wrote in message
news:11ap65hpp53ua04@corp.supernews.com...
> Walt Hanks <walthanks@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> What I failed to notice was that there were some significant shadows
>> under
>> my sister's eyes in a few of the shots. So, I need to take care of them
>> in PS.
>
> Yeah, you have what looks like two eye problems going on. The first is
> that
> she has dark circles and "puffies" that would best have been dealt with
> using
> makeup;

She has always been anti-makeup, and the woman who did her makeup for the
wedding was terrible, but I couldn't say anything. And, at almost 50 with 4
kids and 1 grandchild, she earned every one of those bags!

the second is the shadow problem, which is a common by-product of
> overcast lighting and is easy to miss when shooting because our eyes
> overlook
> it (or rather, our brains do, since it's so common).
>

Yeah, that would be the case.

> Unfortunately, you don't have the luxury of applying makeup and correcting
> the lighting at this point, so Photoshop it is. Try the healing brush,
> and
> the clone tool. Play with the blending options, in particular "lighten
> only"
> mode. Some color correction ("color" mode) may be needed to deal with the
> purplish hue, bringing it more in line with the actual skin tone.
>

I've never used the healing brush, so that will take some playing. I
generally like to select the pixels I want to work with and apply changes
directly. But I'll see if I can make it work. The clone tool I know well.

Thanks!

Walt
 
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

Walt Hanks <walthanks@comcast.net> wrote:

> I've never used the healing brush, so that will take some playing. I
> generally like to select the pixels I want to work with and apply changes
> directly. But I'll see if I can make it work. The clone tool I know well.

Think of the healing brush as the way you always wished the clone tool
worked, and go from there. :)

--
Jeremy | jeremy@exit109.com
 
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

"Walt Hanks" <walthanks@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:5cCdndETxO4PETHfRVn-ow@comcast.com...
> As some of you know, I was out in San Diego two weekends ago shooting my
> sister's wedding (formals only - no reception). Everything was shot
> outdoors on an overcast day with flat lighting. I used a silver reflector
> to add a little sparkle. What I failed to notice was that there were some
> significant shadows under my sister's eyes in a few of the shots. So, I
> need to take care of them in PS.
>
> Here's my question. What plugins do you all like to use for dealing with
> puffy eyes and shadows around the eyes?
>
> To see the images, go to:
>
> http://www.pbase.com/walthanks/mosleybreiding
>
> But remember, I hadn't shot a wedding in 25 years and these are
> unretouched
> proofs.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Walt
>
>

If you're using Photoshop CS, try the shadows/highlight filter under
Image/Adjustments. If it's too much for the whole picture but works well
for the shadows under the eyes, just set your history brush to one level
back from your shadows/highlights adjustment, and quickly brush in the last
level everywhere but her eyes. It's easy. Jeremy's suggestion(s) are good,
too, but complicated and best saved for the best of the bunch. Even then,
you might want to start with the shadows/highlights and proceed from there.

--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com
 
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

"Walt Hanks" <walthanks@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:5cCdndETxO4PETHfRVn-ow@comcast.com...
> As some of you know, I was out in San Diego two weekends ago shooting my
> sister's wedding (formals only - no reception). Everything was shot
> outdoors on an overcast day with flat lighting. I used a silver reflector
> to add a little sparkle. What I failed to notice was that there were some
> significant shadows under my sister's eyes in a few of the shots. So, I
> need to take care of them in PS.
>
> Here's my question. What plugins do you all like to use for dealing with
> puffy eyes and shadows around the eyes?
>

1) Create a new layer and make it the active layer
2) Set the blending mode of the new layer to "Overlay"
3) Set draw color to white or very light gray.
4) Select a soft round brush
5) Draw a line in the center of the dark circles about 60% of the width of
the circles (It's sort of like drawing white eyeglasses around the eyes.)
6) Perform a Gaussian blur on the new overlay layer. Experiment for best
effect.
7) Adjust opacity of the new layer for best effect, touch up if necessary.
8) Flatten image.

This is a kind of on-the-fly contrast masking technique used to selectively
brighten (or darken) small areas of an image. With a little practice and
experimentation, it becomes quick and intuitive, particularly so if you use
a graphics tablet for editing.
 
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

Thanks to everyone who replied (well, almost everyone). Here is an amusing
reminder of the axiom, "The customer is always right."

Using your suggestions, I retouched one of the head shots of my sister and
showed her the results online. Her response - "What happened to my purple
eye shadow? I wanted my eyes to be darker."

So, I will be softening the lines and lightening just a touch - but not
getting rid of "that purple cast."

BTW, she loved the pictures "just the way they are."

Walt
 
Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

Walt Hanks wrote:
> Thanks to everyone who replied (well, almost everyone). Here is an
> amusing reminder of the axiom, "The customer is always right."
>
> Using your suggestions, I retouched one of the head shots of my
> sister and showed her the results online. Her response - "What
> happened to my purple eye shadow? I wanted my eyes to be darker."
>
> So, I will be softening the lines and lightening just a touch - but
> not getting rid of "that purple cast."
>
> BTW, she loved the pictures "just the way they are."

The camera never lies?

David
 
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