# My favorite model - Re-Edit - Sepia



## frog21 (Sep 12, 2016)

I shot this pic a year ago and I have been doing some re-edits since I am more comfortable in Lightroom. Please comment and critique.


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## tirediron (Sep 12, 2016)

Sorry, just not a fan of sepia-esque processing, especially for portraits.  If she had been wearing 19th century clothing it might work, but...


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## frog21 (Sep 12, 2016)

tirediron said:


> Sorry, just not a fan of sepia-esque processing, especially for portraits.  If she had been wearing 19th century clothing it might work, but...


Well, opinions differ.


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## The_Traveler (Sep 12, 2016)

Her face is seemingly textureless and this photo suffers from it.


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## frog21 (Sep 12, 2016)

The_Traveler said:


> Her face is seemingly textureless and this photo suffers from it.


I did go a little to far with editing her face. I was trying for a very soft almost porcelain like skin effect. However, the model really likes this one.


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## frog21 (Sep 13, 2016)

Thanks for the comment but I disagree. I think your re-edit looks harsh and very unflattering. I was aiming for a soft pleasing look. The reason for the vignette was to focus more attention on the face of the model.


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## mrpink (Sep 13, 2016)

frog21 said:


> Thanks for the comment but I disagree. I think your re-edit looks harsh and very unflattering. I was aiming for a soft pleasing look. The reason for the vignette was to focus more attention on the face of the model.



what he said.


p!nK


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## smoke665 (Sep 13, 2016)

At first I thought my monitor needed to be re-calibrated, then I saw the edit further down. Don't get me wrong I'm a fan of Sepia, as well as vignettes, but tone of your image is distracting, almost a greenish yellow. I like the softness of the face, combined with the sharpness of the eyes. It almost looks like your going for a High Key approach. Only my opinion, but I think you could improve the image by changing the tone slightly while still maintaining the look.


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## frog21 (Sep 13, 2016)

Thanks for your advice on the tone. I just looked at this post on 2 of my monitors and on one it does have the slightest green cast but not on my main monitor. I think i need to check calibration.  You are right about the "almost High Key approach".


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## smoke665 (Sep 13, 2016)

I don't normally edit someone else's photo, because I'm still learning myself, but the image you have is really good, it just needs a little more. When I downloaded a copy of your image it appeared that the white balance was off slightly. I did a color balance, curve adjustment, used a luminosity mask (thanks to Tim Tucker for explaining this to me) to brighten the image and highlights, and applied a blue filter to enhance the High Key look. I'm sure there are others more qualified than I that can improve it even more.  As we all know opinions are like noses every one has one! LOL


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## frog21 (Sep 13, 2016)

smoke665 said:


> I don't normally edit someone else's photo, because I'm still learning myself, but the image you have is really good, it just needs a little more. When I downloaded a copy of your image it appeared that the white balance was off slightly. I did a color balance, curve adjustment, used a luminosity mask (thanks to Tim Tucker for explaining this to me) to brighten the image and highlights, and applied a blue filter to enhance the High Key look. I'm sure there are others more qualified than I that can improve it even more.  As we all know opinions are like noses every one has one! LOL
> 
> View attachment 127535


Thanks, I like your edit. The color balance curve adjustment is something even I can handle but the luminosity mask is beyond my meager Photoshop skills.


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## pixmedic (Sep 13, 2016)

unfortunately, in both sepia edits, the highlights are so hot on her face it kills all detail. 
the sepia treatment just makes her look jaundiced. 
in my opinion, this one warrants a reshoot with better controlled lighting. 
subject is too pretty not to.


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## astroNikon (Sep 13, 2016)

I'll throw in my 0.02 cents.
I like the Sepia image but up to a point.
I think the face is a bit overdone and her face looks a little ghostly.  ie, Although I like the softness it just seems a bit bright.  But I love the sharp eyes which seems to get emphasized more due to the brightness & softness of her face.

though the photog has the artistic license here of how far to go.
Most people love photos of themselves or other people they know irrelevant of any extreme's in processing or weird instagram stuff.  So if the client is happy, that's all that matters.


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## dennybeall (Sep 13, 2016)

Can only go by this laptop but the first one looks like a coating of white over the face and the second looks like a rough textured skin was patted with pancake makeup. Neither looks natural or real.
It's really hard to do "High Fashion" skin without special purpose software.....


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## smoke665 (Sep 13, 2016)

frog21 said:


> t the luminosity mask is beyond my meager Photoshop skills.



I would suggest you read this thread by Tim Tucker. He explains things in way that's easy to understand.  Been a while.

As to the other comments about the OP's choice of look, processing, etc., it really shouldn't be an issue. While some don't like the High Key look, or Sepia, it was his vision. The helpful thing would be to make suggestions on how he can improve the image (in his vision), rather than criticize his direction, unless his choice was so far off base that there was no improvement possible.  Learning is a process of experimenting with techniques. There are some people far more talented than I on here that hopefully will step in to help the OP.


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## pixmedic (Sep 13, 2016)

smoke665 said:


> frog21 said:
> 
> 
> > t the luminosity mask is beyond my meager Photoshop skills.
> ...



thats how C&C goes sometimes. you dont always get to choose how its given, and all you can do is sift through what you feel is relevant, and ignore the rest. 
the OP posted that picture with the caption, " Please comment and critique", which is a pretty broad request. nothing specific was asked, so we can only assume that they are looking for any and all opinions on the picture.


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## smoke665 (Sep 13, 2016)

pixmedic said:


> the OP posted that picture with the caption, " Please comment and critique", which is a pretty broad request. nothing specific was asked



True, and most everyone who's posted here for awhile, learns how harsh that critique can be. Actually that's one of the advantages of this forum, it's not a "pat everyone on the back and tell them how great they are site", you get honest feedback (good or bad). Although the OP shows an old join date, he obviously hasn't posted that much on here, so in the case of Noobs it wouldn't hurt to have some constructive advice mixed in with the negative feedback.


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## pixmedic (Sep 13, 2016)

smoke665 said:


> pixmedic said:
> 
> 
> > the OP posted that picture with the caption, " Please comment and critique", which is a pretty broad request. nothing specific was asked
> ...



hence my advice of sifting through what you feel is relevant and ignoring the rest. 
but your post  bring up another relevant point, which is that there is a common misconception that 
critique that is perceived as "negative" is not constructive. this is not entirely the case, and is largely, and subjectively, dependent
on how that negative feedback is presented. 
just because someone doesnt like the work that is posted, and perhaps even states as much, doesnt mean that their critique is irrelevant, or unhelpful. 
it is true however, that when offering critique, either positive OR negative, one should always strive to offer it in the spirit of helping the poster, and not simply to put down someone elses work.


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## smoke665 (Sep 13, 2016)

pixmedic said:


> hence my advice of sifting through what you feel is relevant and ignoring the rest.
> but your post bring up another relevant point, which is that there is a common misconception that
> critique that is perceived as "negative" is not constructive. this is not entirely the case, and is largely, and subjectively, dependent
> on how that negative feedback is presented.
> ...



Yes!!! I think we have accord, though you probably said it better! LOL


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## frog21 (Sep 13, 2016)

Her is a jpeg of the original raw file in case anyone would like to edit. I really appreciate the help. I am self taught in Lightroom and   trying to do the same for Photoshop, with the help of Youtube.


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## frog21 (Sep 13, 2016)

I forgot to mention that this model, Bethany, is my 22 year old Granddaughter and she does not like modeling.


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## pixmedic (Sep 13, 2016)

I didnt spend much time on this in LR, but this is how I would have imagined this picture edited.


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## JonA_CT (Sep 13, 2016)

Serious amateur, but I'm always up for some processing practice. I did a color and a BW take.


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## CherylL (Sep 13, 2016)

I tried an edit in PS and a few of the Nik collection.


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## kalgra (Sep 13, 2016)

I personally like what you were going for with the Sepia but I do agree with much of the critique above and think its a bit too much. In my pinon this work a bit better using a cream tone instead of sepia. I softened the skin and brightened the eyes but tried to keep the the "porcelain" look to the skin you were going after. Overall I like what you were going for.

Edit** Wasn't sure if I should be using Photo bucket for someone else picture so I added as an attachment instead and removed from photo bucket.


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## smoke665 (Sep 13, 2016)

frog21 said:


> I forgot to mention that this model, Bethany, is my 22 year old Granddaughter and she does not like modeling.[/QUO



Very pretty young lady. I'm a know it all amateur , so take what I say with a grain of salt!!! I tried a few things, not perfect and I think I could get it better, but I it's late and I'm tired (not a good combination for me). Couple of choices one color one a B&W tint. I tried to soften the face, and give her a creamy complexion while still shooting toward the High Key. I wasn't happy with the eyes, and the highlights on the right side, but like I said I'm past the concentrating stage.


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## smoke665 (Sep 13, 2016)

Wow, nothing like a little challenge to bring out a LOT OF TALENT. Looks like you have a nice choice of looks now!!


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## frog21 (Sep 14, 2016)

This is my original edit of this pic, before I played with the sepia / softer look.


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## smoke665 (Sep 14, 2016)

frog21 said:


> This is my original edit of this pic,



This image has so many good things to work with, and I like so many things about what you've done with it. There's still a little highlight area on the left shoulder that's blown. If you go back to the raw file, you may be able to do a little better there. The only other thing that I see is still the tone issue. I thought it was white balance, but when I opened this in LR I'm not sure now. On the image below, on the left is a clip from your image on the forum. On the right is that same image (with no other changes) imported into LR then exported as an sRGB. Can you see the difference? The tone/WB on the left may be the look you're shooting for, but I should be seeing something a lot closer when I open it in LR. Is there a chance that you're not exporting the image as an sRGB color space????? Or have you calibrated your monitor recently? I don't do it with everything, but every so often i will upload a photo to a private web site, and view it on different devices, just to double check myself. 

3 of my grandchildren are girls, one 1 year old, a 19 year old, and a 22 year old. The 1 year old is the only one of the bunch that will allow PaPa to tie her down for photos!!


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## frog21 (Sep 14, 2016)

smoke665 said:


> frog21 said:
> 
> 
> > This is my original edit of this pic,
> ...


Thanks for the tip about sRGB. My Lightroom is set as sRGB for export but to ProPhoto RGb for Edit In and this image do go to PS prior to saving . The 2 images you have here are vastly different in tone/WB but I think my color version above, falls somewhere in between. I was trying for a "warm" feel to this shot.


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## smoke665 (Sep 14, 2016)

frog21 said:


> smoke665 said:
> 
> 
> > frog21 said:
> ...



You're welcome. The Web do sent play nice with colors, sRGB has worked.

I'm not sure you understood what I was saying about the tone/wb. The two clips I put side by side were both "your" image. The only thing I did was import it into LR and export it right back out as an sRGB. I didn't make any other adjustments. 

The point I was making is that you need to standardize your color space across all platforms including your monitor, so you know what the finished product will look like be it on the Web or a print.


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## cauzimme (Sep 14, 2016)

I'm not a fan of the sepia look, but I gave it a try. First I did a lil skin retouching, then I dodge the eyes area. Since her skin was pale, I went for a more ''romantic'' soft look, did a black and white and ad a bit of warm, sharpen, vignette.


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## frog21 (Sep 16, 2016)

cauzimme said:


> I'm not a fan of the sepia look, but I gave it a try. First I did a lil skin retouching, then I dodge the eyes area. Since her skin was pale, I went for a more ''romantic'' soft look, did a black and white and ad a bit of warm, sharpen, vignette.


I like it!


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## frog21 (Sep 16, 2016)

smoke665 said:


> frog21 said:
> 
> 
> > smoke665 said:
> ...


I really appreciate your comments and suggestions. I did check all of my software and monitors and I found that Lightroom was set for ProPhoto RGB. I don't know why or when I would have changed it but everything is the same now.


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## smoke665 (Sep 16, 2016)

Glad you found it. I know the frustration I went through with this.


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