I tried to create some portraits of my daughters

[theantiquetiger]

How is this?


morgan swing final by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr


maddy swing final by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

[Marko]

jas's version looks more natural than yours at....though these are much better than the originals.

Here's a strict protocol to follow

What program(s) are you using? Please answer this question.

IMO, to correct this here and now forever...u should only be using 1 program.
I'd like to see the skin tones and the faces look natural. Once this is solved, feel to enhance in any way you want - so for this exercise, No pluggins, filters, actions or fancy stuff. I can see fancy stuff in these 2 latest images.

You want to get to the root of the problem, not confound the issue with too much software/filtration.

You do need to practise in the right way as you know but now this practise is at the computer and you need to find a workflow....that works.....Morgan's face looks airbrushed and rendered by some pluggin....we need to see it plain. We want to teach you to fish, all you need is a manual rod and a reel, even though the temptation of motorized fishing glam is everywhere.

I'd go back again to this image and neutralize the cast in the way RM suggested. (or any other way that people use to neutralize casts).

Look for an area that should be white with detail (maybe the bow on the head). Remove the cast only on your daughter so that her skin looks natural and real. Don't worry about the environment, just your daughter's skin.

Outline your exact steps and the program you used and post your result.

Just do 1 image, the same image Morgan image and post that 1 image.

Hope that may help

[theantiquetiger]

What program(s) are you using? Please answer this question.

IMO, to correct this here and now forever...u should only be using 1 program.

Outline your exact steps and the program you used and post your result.

Just do 1 image, the same image Morgan image and post that 1 image.

Her are the steps I used on Morgan's image I posted last:

In DPP - converted from RAW to TIF (because of the darkening with transferring from DDP to LR if left in RAW)

In LR4.2 - set WB like RM said to do with an area on the dress (I didn't know I could do this). It took a few tries to find one that looked natural (IMO)

- Did some cropping and leveling (because the swing was not hanging straight)

- Used graduated Sharpening filter horizontally from just below the elbows to just above her head

- Used graduated exposure filter (4x) above/below/each side to darken background

- Lowered over all green saturation a little / raised over all clarity a little / raised & lowered whites/shadows/blacks etc (I forget exact)

- Did a little cloning around feet to clean up leaves/etc

- Did a slight dark vignetting

- saved file as JPG

In Portrait Professional

- Ran image through to sharpen the eyes and saved as different file

In GIMP

- Cut eyes out of Portrait Pro and pasted on saved image from LR

- Did an unmask filter to sharpen over all sharpening

(I know I have forgotten a few over all steps, but they were minor)

I will start back over with Morgan's image above and work only in LR (I will even use a RAW image from DPP, not converted)

[theantiquetiger]

OK here is step by step on image below using RAW in LR4.2

- set WB to her left side of dress
- Exp +0.36
- Cropped/leveled
- Contrast -20
- Highlights -40
- Shadows -14
- Whites +40
- Blacks -2
- Clarity +2
- Vibrancy -10
- Saturation +14
- Sharpness Grad filter (vertical) hand to hand +70
- Exposure Grad filters left/right sides -1.33
- Brush whiten teeth/eyes
- Tone curve Highlights +26
- Tone curve Lights +11
- Tone curve Darks -20
- Tone curve Shadows -1
- Green Hue -20
- Green Saturation -56
- Green Luminance -29
- Sharpness Brush on face +70
- Masking Slider +60
- Exposure brush on face +0.51
- Sharpness Brush on eyes +100
- Iris Enhance Brush
- Skin Soften Brush on face
- Lightroom preset PUNCH
- Lightroom preset Sharpen face

(***After posting this about an hour ago and studying it more, this is what I see***)
- her face seems a little under exposed, reddish and has a slight green cast under her chin
- I love the detail in her dress but could use some kind of ironing(the best I have achieved so far IMO)
- I like the skin tones on her arms (esp her left bicep) . You have to remember, down here in Louisiana, our summer started 2 months ago, we are all tan now


step by step morgan by Theantiquetiger, on Flickr

[Marko]

Now we are getting somewhere.

This is the level of precision required.
My first instinct is that no wonder you are confounded - that's a heck of a lot of processing.
To learn better, imo, you need to cut down on all that processing immediately. like nearly all of it.

How can we get to see a natural image with all that stuff goin' on?

- Lightroom preset PUNCH - gotta stop that too - what is that?

No presets dude, no nuthin.
No exposure grad filters.
Do it with the basic sliders. That's how you develop a workflow

Your goal for this exercise is to use as few maneuvers as possible to remove the cast.

You should know straight up that green on the skin which is reflected from the grass, IS hard to correct, so it's not just you, don't feel bad or anything - it's a common challenge.

Use the basic tools in lightroom in this attached image. That's it. Feel free to to use the tools globally as well as selectively. You can use the adjustment brush.
Please note every maneuver.
Please post another version after that. (Remember to kill any presets).
If anyone has additional input, please we are all here to share and learn. My PP skills are a solid medium compared to many others around here.
Btw - this version you posted is the best so far.
But I think this will help AT, Best.

[theantiquetiger]

Thanks Marko and everyone for the help!!!

I'm at work now, so will start up this project again in the morning. Let me say this, the image I posted this morning looks amazing on my iPhone. 1000x better than the one I posted this afternoon. Granted, this is on my iPhone and it is a lot smaller and compressed. If I could figure out how to obtain that look on full size image, I would be happy as a lark.

[theantiquetiger]

I do have a stupid question:

How do I (or can I) color adjust with the brush instead of the global slider? If I just want to take some red out of her face without doing it globally, how is this done in LR?

[JAS_Photo]

You can use your adjustment brush to "colour in" the area you want to work on and make your adjustment from there. This is a great tool for evening out exposure in a shot (aka dodging and burning) as well.

[theantiquetiger]

You can use your adjustment brush to "colour in" the area you want to work on and make your adjustment from there. This is a great tool for evening out exposure in a shot (aka dodging and burning) as well.

I'm not sure I am following you here. I know how to add color with the brush. What I am wanting to do is selective color adjustments with the brush. Further down the tool pallette, there are sliders to adjust hue, saturation, and luminance for different colors (red, purple, green, yellow, etc). These sliders adjust globally. Can I turn down just the reds in her face only in lightroom? I want to turn down the red saturation just in her face without affecting anything else.

[JAS_Photo]

It is not a technique I normally use but using the adjustment brush "colour in" (figuratively speaking that is, you just want to define the area to work with) the area that you want to adjust with all the adjustments set at "0" or neutral. You can you your temperture sliders to adjust your colour temperature and it will affect the "coloured" in area only. Or at the bottom left of the section is the word color and across from that on the right is a rectangle with an X on it. Click on that and you can adjust colour in just that previously defined area. Honestly, though, I think you are making this more complicated than it needs to be.