baby photo edit

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gpc1

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Greg
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Hi all,

So, the missus volunteered me to shoot a friends 4 week old. Never done this before and was apprehensive, however, i really enjoyed it and considering its my first go at baby photography i, and the mum, were extremely pleases with the results. However, im editing the images and i cant quite get the edit/look im after.

I have several presets as a starter and i have tweaked and played and im 90% there. I just cant seem to get that lovely creamy smoothe skin tone but retain sharpness.

Does anyone have any presets or tutorials that they can share. I have scoured youtube, pintereste, and the net (a lot of the good ones are selling photoshop actions so only give you half the tutorial).

Any help would be greatly appreciated as i am revisiting her next week to try some different pros and poses.
ideally i am after a detailed tutorial. I use LR4 and PS6

Once cleared with mum i may post a few...

Thanks all

Greg
 
Last edited:
Posting the image would help.
 
yep, i know, i cant post it at the moment but here is a link to a tutorial i have found to give some idea of where im going.
http://confessionsofapropjunkie.com/?p=3666

i think paint the moon & pretty presets have lots of presets etc but i guess im looking for more of a workflow so that i can apply and tweak it to suit...

will try and get some example images up tonight
 
open the photo up in photoshop, set negative clarity to the desired "haze" effect you're after, then open up the image again but normal.

Now copy and paste the one image opened in photoshop, into the other as a layer.
If you make sure the fuzzy one is the top layer, use the erase around the eyes, dark lines around the nose, possibly ears and lips and mouth. You get the fuzz except on the parts you dont want it to be, retaining your sharpness where it matters the most to you.

Hope that helped.
 
will give it a try. Failed to get the image posted last night, will try again tonight.

Rgds
 
Here's a suggestion from Martin Evening's excellent book for LR4, on the topic of skin retouching with negative clarity. By selecting the adjustment brush in the Development mode in LR4, set the clarity to -100% and sharpness to +25% (all others set of course to zero).There is no need for Auto Mask mode as all is required is to paint over the areas you consider need softening.
 
nice one. Thanks. Will give it a try. again, the website baby, bump and beyond has images with some fantastic detail and tones and colours......

Practice is the key so will let you all know what i find out.

Thanks again
 
ok, so in this video you can see the set up. No flash, natural light. @ 35:27 the image of the baby in the crate is so textural and creamy...i just simply cant seem to get that level of pp. Anyone know the secret?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfb5XUwV_8M
 
These tutorials etc that you keep posting are all starting with a well lit and well exposed shots before any processing is done. That's essential. This is why we need to see your image, because the problem my be with the shot in the first place. If your exposure and lighting is bad, then the techniques discussed in these tutorials will not have the same result. It may not.. your shot may be perfect... but either way, seeing the image you are having trouble with will help us decide what's what.
 
pooky, yep, agree there. I just dont want to post the image until i have cleared it with the mum first really...

Totally understand re the lighting / exposure. Purse / pigs ear and all that.

Its the first baby shot i have done and i can already see where i have gone wrong from the lighting / exposure aspect.

I used 2 shoot throughs but the baby was also in daylight so i think i have washed out the textures with too much light coming from all around as opposed to a soft directional main and soft subtle fill.

I will be making attemt 2 this weekend.

As soon as i can i will post the images.

Appreciate all the feedback etc.
 
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