# Lesson of the week



## VincentPaul

Frequency Separation.


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## snowbear

That's two words.


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## table1349

New word of the week.   Math.


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## Krell0

= a very useful retouching tool. Thumbs up

Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk


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## Gary A.

gryphonslair99 said:


> New word of the week.   Math.


That's one word.


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## VincentPaul

snowbear said:


> That's two words.


True, I've updated the title 
I've watched tons of videos on this topic this week. I will never edit photos the same way again.


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## astroNikon

VincentPaul said:


> snowbear said:
> 
> 
> 
> That's two words.
> 
> 
> 
> True, I've updated the title
> I've watched tons of videos on this topic this week. I will never edit photos the same way again.
Click to expand...

Okay, but what did you learn?  And why are you never going to edit photos again the same way?
How does it improve your images?
What steps do you do to do this?
What tools can you use to accomplish this ?


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## Gary A.

What he said^^^^^.  Inquiring minds wonder.


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## smoke665

Let me give you a couple more two word lessons - "In Camera" and "Lightroom". Learn to get it right in camera and to use the tools in LR, and you'll find less need to even enter PS. I was fascinated with frequency separations, even developed several custom actions in PS, to utilize them, but I've found after the newness wore off that the others were far easier and just as effective.


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## table1349

smoke665 said:


> Let me give you a couple more two word lessons - "In Camera" and "Lightroom". Learn to get it right in camera and to use the tools in LR, and you'll find less need to even enter PS. I was fascinated with frequency separations, even developed several custom actions in PS, to utilize them, but I've found after the newness wore off that the others were far easier and just as effective.


Lightroom is one word.


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## smoke665

gryphonslair99 said:


> Lightroom is one word.



Not if you're a real southerner,  you can drag it out long enough that it sounds like two.  How about learn to use  "adjustment brushes" in "Lightroom" is that better?


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## table1349

smoke665 said:


> gryphonslair99 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Lightroom is one word.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not if you're a real southerner,  you can drag it out long enough that it sounds like two.  How about learn to use  "adjustment brushes" in "Lightroom" is that better?
Click to expand...

Sorry Lightroom is a formal name. Widgyadidgya a proper southern word can be anywhere from 1 to 4 words.


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## astroNikon

what are we going to learn next week?


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## table1349

How about curves?


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## VincentPaul

astroNikon said:


> VincentPaul said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> snowbear said:
> 
> 
> 
> That's two words.
> 
> 
> 
> True, I've updated the title
> I've watched tons of videos on this topic this week. I will never edit photos the same way again.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Okay, but what did you learn?  And why are you never going to edit photos again the same way?
> How does it improve your images?
> What steps do you do to do this?
> What tools can you use to accomplish this ?
Click to expand...

Good questions Astro forgive me for not giving specifics.  Being a newbie on here I made the mistake of thinking everyone else already knew this technique.
I'll explain;
In the past I would edit skin surfaces using this technique




The issue with doing this is you lose many detail in the skin surface that makes the skin look un-natural & fake in the end. 

Now I edit like this




With frequency separation, once you watch the video and learn the technique, the end result is that not only does your subjects' skin look smooth but it still retains details like pores which looks more natural. 
Here's an image I quickly put together to help demonstrate.  Now this is mostly preference but personally I think the new edit looks more natural
This is the shortest answer I can give, I HIGHLY recommend watching the videos I posted to learn more and the photo I uploaded to see the difference.


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## VincentPaul

Gary A. said:


> What he said^^^^^.  Inquiring minds wonder.


Check my answer above


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## smoke665

@VincentPaul I think Astros and Gary were trying to get you to think beyond your initial excitement, to  how this process might fit your workflow and how it can be expanded to include just about every editing function available in PS. For example it could be used as part of a selective sharpening process, or by using the curve layer adjustment  in conjunction with frequency channels you can drill down and adjust color  and Luminosity of your shadows, highlights, or midtones individually. Skin softening is only a small part of what's possible.

Obviously can't speak for everyone but I suspect that anyone who's spent some time in PS is familiar with the process. I will admit there was a sense of wonderment when I first learned. However, I also learned that as with anything, there are always better mousetraps. If you have PS then I'm assuming you have LR. I would highly suggest that you spend some time learning LR, because once you do you'll find less use for PS. In your above example, the skin softening retouching is easily done with an adjustment brush in LR. The advantage is that adjustments made in LR are faster, are none destructive as opposed to PS, and the file size of the edit is a whole lot less. Changing your mind is a breeze.

Will LR replace PS -  not at my skill level. I had to pull out the PS tool box on an edit of an orchid recently that needed a makeover, but I'm finding it less and less necessary.


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## VincentPaul

smoke665 said:


> @VincentPaul I think Astros and Gary were trying to get you to think beyond your initial excitement, to  how this process might fit your workflow and how it can be expanded to include just about every editing function available in PS. For example it could be used as part of a selective sharpening process, or by using the curve layer adjustment  in conjunction with frequency channels you can drill down and adjust color  and Luminosity of your shadows, highlights, or midtones individually. Skin softening is only a small part of what's possible.
> 
> Obviously can't speak for everyone but I suspect that anyone who's spent some time in PS is familiar with the process. I will admit there was a sense of wonderment when I first learned. However, I also learned that as with anything, there are always better mousetraps. If you have PS then I'm assuming you have LR. I would highly suggest that you spend some time learning LR, because once you do you'll find less use for PS. In your above example, the skin softening retouching is easily done with an adjustment brush in LR. The advantage is that adjustments made in LR are faster, are none destructive as opposed to PS, and the file size of the edit is a whole lot less. Changing your mind is a breeze.
> 
> Will LR replace PS -  not at my skill level. I had to pull out the PS tool box on an edit of an orchid recently that needed a makeover, but I'm finding it less and less necessary.


Very good points.  As of now yes I would say my main attention has been on what it can do for my edits as it relates to what I mentioned before.  I hadn't thought of Astros question in the way you pointed but thanks for pointing that out, I'll remember that when the occassions arrive as I'm sure the possibilities with FS are endless. 
I'm familiar with LR but for now I'll say the process of editing skin in a way that retains the most detailed has been intriguing to me.  Essentially wether it is accomplished in PS or LR I'm excited to have given this technique more consideration, I'm much please with the results versus how I was doing it in the past.
I have experimented with alternatives to this in LR and I will agree it is much better considering I don't have to shift between programs.
For me it's important right now & going forward because I want to get better with portraits and hopefully eventually do more high fashion shoots where this will be useful to me.

Thanks again for your feedback, I'm always open to learning new things.


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## astroNikon

smoke665 said:


> @VincentPaul I think Astros and Gary were trying to get you to think beyond your initial excitement, to  how this process might fit your workflow and how it can be expanded to include just about every editing function available in PS.



Precisely.  I was hoping for more information on what the OP learned.  As newbies can run across the thread and learn something.  

One may also use specific lenses which create much more creaminess in the subject.  For instance a new Nikon 85/1.8G lens is tack sharp.  So it shows all the blemishes, etc.  But an 85/1.4 AF-D lens smooths out those blemishes.   So SOOC the images on the AF-D are preferred over the G lens for single portraiture.  

And of course lighting can come into play too in helping in this scenario. I'm just now getting into using a Beauty Dish ... a lot to learn on one specific lighting tool.


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## smoke665

@astroNikon Yup. Noobs can be overwhelmed at how cool Frequency Separations work - I was. It's magical to the point that you lose focus on the what, where and how to use it in a workflow. Thanks to the patient counseling of others on TPF, I learned to use it for what it is a tool in the box.


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## dcbear78

Frequency Separation.... Sure fire way to take a human being and turn them into a plastic doll when done poorly, which seems to be most of the time. 

The noobs think they have become professionals after downloading the Phlearn action. When the true high end retouchers don't use this technique for skin retouching.


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## DanOstergren

I was excited when I initially learned the technique and gave it a few tries. In my experience, I prefer good old fashion Dodge and Burn for clearing up the skin. It takes a bit more work, but the results are more controlled and much more natural looking to me, and honestly you can avoid much of the retouching simply by getting the lighting right at the moment of exposure. To me, frequency separation is a shortcut that often leaves evidence of editing. I hate when I look at a photo and can tell the skin was retouched.


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