# 15 year old



## wildmaven (Oct 22, 2007)

C&C please

Hanna, who never smiles and who took a very horrible school picture
this year, was so pleased with this photo she wants to use it on her 
myspace account.  When I first started taking photos, she looked
like every other teenager you see walking down the street: scowling.
I eventually got her to relax and smile. Her mom says this is the best
photo anyone has ever taken of her. (blush!) I think it's too yellow. 







Edit: Added this one, which I think is too dark,, but I love her smile:


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## Big Mike (Oct 22, 2007)

It does look a little yellow and I wish she was looking at the camera, rather than off into space...but capturing a smile on a brooding teenager is more important than those issues.


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## skieur (Oct 22, 2007)

You really need to use a fill light on these shots.  The shadows are way too dark and hide the very important eyes.

skieur


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## wildmaven (Oct 22, 2007)

skieur said:


> You really need to use a fill light on these shots. The shadows are way too dark and hide the very important eyes.
> 
> skieur


 
I agree. I had wanted to do window lighting, as this was in the home, but she just was too grouchy posing there. She was much more comfortable sitting on the couch and I'm still inexperienced working with multiple light sources. Gotta practice practice practice.  This was the only halfway decent one near the window:


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## SusieC (Oct 22, 2007)

There is an action I got from a site called Action Central called "Tracey's fill in flash" and it works wonders to lighten up dark eyes.  Just a thought!


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## oldnavy170 (Oct 26, 2007)

Wildmaven, I think you did an AMAZING job on these photos.  All your missing is the editing skills (I'm still learning that too).  However I wanted to show you how much better these photos are without the yellow tones.

Keep up the excellent work!


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## cameramike (Oct 26, 2007)

they look way to edited. they look like they were painted not photographed. Not sure what it is but something about the pictures make her face appear either to flat in some areas and in others almost to detailed.


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## DSLR noob (Oct 27, 2007)

yeah it's very untextured, it looks like a painting (edit or no edit)


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## oldnavy170 (Oct 27, 2007)

I don't think these are over edited at all.  Sometimes teens actually have "Perfect" skin!!!!  I think Wildmaven did an amazing job on these other then the yellow tones.


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## wildmaven (Oct 27, 2007)

Thanks, OldNavy! Can you tell me what you did to get rid of the yellow? I tried adjusting it in "color balance" but couldn't get it right. 

Here is a side by side comparison between the original (I only resized it, nothing more) and my edited version:


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## oldnavy170 (Oct 27, 2007)

I use PS Elements and all I did was use the "fix skintones".  Then the program fixes the rest.


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## wildmaven (Oct 27, 2007)

oldnavy170 said:


> I use PS Elements and all I did was use the "fix skintones". Then the program fixes the rest.


 
Rats! I wish CS2 had that!!


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## Sideburns (Oct 27, 2007)

I do feel as if you processed her skin  a bit too much.  especially on the window shot..she's blotchy.
However, she's a really pretty girl, and you showed us this nicely.  She actually looks like she's havin fun a bit.


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## wildmaven (Oct 28, 2007)

I agree with the blotchy skin in the window shot. I'm having trouble with smoothing skin without it becoming too blurry. Can anyone help? Here's another attempt:


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## Anita (Oct 28, 2007)

Using Mama's Powder Action would do wonders.


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## wildmaven (Oct 28, 2007)

Anita said:


> Using Mama's Powder Action would do wonders.


 
I just checked out Mama's site and she has some really nifty actions. Unfortunately, my budget is really tight since opening up our art gallery. I would love to know how to do it myself, too.


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## Tiberius47 (Oct 28, 2007)

To smooth skin tones, I duplicate the layer, then apply a guassian blur.  This eliminates any unwanted blemishes.  Then I add some noise to give it the illusion of texture.  Then create a layer mask so the blurred skin is only shown on the skin and the eyes and lips etc are still sharp (from the original).  Then just adjust the opacity to make it look natural.


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## almezaanzoom (Oct 29, 2007)

I love the first picture!


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## wildmaven (Oct 29, 2007)

Tiberius47 said:


> To smooth skin tones, I duplicate the layer, then apply a guassian blur. This eliminates any unwanted blemishes. Then I add some noise to give it the illusion of texture. Then create a layer mask so the blurred skin is only shown on the skin and the eyes and lips etc are still sharp (from the original). Then just adjust the opacity to make it look natural.


 
Whooooooooooooo!!! Thanks! I can't wait to give it a try when I get home. 



almezaanzoom said:


> I love the first picture!


 
Thank you. :hug::


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## JCleveland (Nov 1, 2007)

Not a fan of the editing, looks much too overdone.. perhaps it's the pose you caught her in too that's skewing my opinion.. it's wonderful her mom likes it 'cause i'm sure that's who is buying it! myself though, i would have probably re-shot


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## newrmdmike (Nov 6, 2007)

too soft i think.


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## AlejandroHernandez (Nov 6, 2007)

i think you need to apply a mask layer so the effect only covers her face, not the eyes and the hair. I use filter/noise/median with a value of 15 pixels, then i apply the layer mask and reduce the opacity.


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## wildmaven (Nov 6, 2007)

Thanks, Alejandro. I am new to photoshop, so I tend to not know when to stop playing, ha ha. I'll try your suggestion next! 

Marian


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## Mesoam (Nov 6, 2007)

i can NOT belive she is 15...she looks mid 20's!?


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## wildmaven (Nov 7, 2007)

Mesoam said:


> i can NOT belive she is 15...she looks mid 20's!?


 
And she acts like it, too. That one is going to be trouble! 

.


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