Making a Model look Thinner!

scoff

scoff

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Whats the best method to slim down a model?

I've had a play with the liquify filter in PS with reasonable results, but only where there is no complexity in the image, like hair or fingers...

Is there a better way to take off an inch or 2? :)
 
Have a look on Youtube, there's some decent (and not so decent) tutorials on there. I'm too lazy to find them for you. The best way of doing it is to do as little possible though. (IMO)
 
scoff said:
Whats the best method to slim down a model?

I've had a play with the liquify filter in PS with reasonable results, but only where there is no complexity in the image, like hair or fingers...

Is there a better way to take off an inch or 2? :)
Click to expand...


Well I would start with posing and lighting, that can take a lot of weight off. Always use short lighting with the face turned slightly from camera, this way the largest area of the face the camera sees is in shadow. Modified loop or Rembrandt is what I usually go for. Always angle the body around 45 degrees to camera position so it's not so wide. Keep arms separated from the body so there's a gap, makes the mass of the body appear smaller. Don't let the model stick their chin up in an attempt to reduce their chin, get them to position it so what you see looks good and that usually means head forward and chin down slightly. If they really want to tighten the jaw line, leaning forward ever so slightly from the waist works better. Make sure you use a long lens, over 90mm and never shoot up to your model unless they are a 'model'. I find shooting just above waist height for a full length but keeping the lens pointed straight ahead not up at the eyes works very well. For anything closer I shoot slightly down. Sorry if you already know all this and by the way these are not hard and fast rules but a good starting point.

If you've done all you can during capture you might find it's enough. As for post, the liquify tool can do a lot but it's time consuming and takes practice. Part of the trick is to use the freeze tool to prevent areas moving that shouldn't. Also make a selection of the general area you want to work on before choosing the liquify filter, this speeds up photoshop as it only loads the selected area. As mentioned, look for tutorials and you'll find a lot of tricks.

Often you just need to tighten things up in certain areas to make a big difference. You can also dodge and burn contour into the face and muscles to enhance the effect you will get from lighting.

A very quick trick which will work with some images is to transform the whole layer and reduce the width of the entire image between 5 and 10% don't go any further or it will be obvious.

Personally I prefer to do as flattering a job as I can with light, posing and composition. I'm sure other's will have lots of techniques they use as I've only scratched the surface.
 
A quick way to do it that I've seen is to use Free Transform and reduce the width, but no more than 5% is recommended.
 
another quick way is to resize the image .. choosing the % method, try about 97% on the width but keep 100% height and uncheck constrain proportions (or whatever it's called on your software). Similar to free transform really.
 
Why I would ask, would it make a better image?

Is it because you shot on a wide lens and the effect of the barrelling has caused this?

Get the model to wear black clothes, no stripes and shoot with a long lens, say min 85mm or much longer.

As for thinning the model, that's a risky piece of territory you are getting into.
 
thanks for the advice guys, its much appreciated

Graham, thanks for the detailed tips, I will revisit your post...

To clarify the reason... I shot a model, I did my upmost to ensure the angles and lighting were as flattering as possible... but unfortunately she has added a couple of pounds since her last outing with me.... and wants the results to look similar (if not better lol) She is not a big girl by any stretch of the imagination... she just used to be more toned!!
If it was fashion that would be fine.. but everything which needs hiding was on display, so no smoke and mirrors...
Free transform would still show what needs hiding.. but will help slightly, I will have a play later.

I will give puppet warp a go later also (thanks)

Cheers for the help :) :)
 
Diet :lol:



scoff said:
Whats the best method to slim down a model?

I've had a play with the liquify filter in PS with reasonable results, but only where there is no complexity in the image, like hair or fingers...

Is there a better way to take off an inch or 2? :)
Click to expand...
 
Scott Kelby has released a new book covering portraits, Professional Portrait Retouching. It doesn't try to teach you everything about Photoshop, just how to do some specific tasks. Slimming down your subject is one of the tasks. ;)

You can take a look inside to see if the style and content suits your needs, well worth the money in my opinion.
 
Keltica said:
Why I would ask, would it make a better image?

Is it because you shot on a wide lens and the effect of the barrelling has caused this?

Get the model to wear black clothes, no stripes and shoot with a long lens, say min 85mm or much longer.

As for thinning the model, that's a risky piece of territory you are getting into.
Click to expand...


Sometimes a client wants it though. I would normally just do as flattering a job as possible with things like lighting, posing and lens choice, but if specifically requested I dont mind doing the odd photo.
 
Thanks for all the sensible suggestions... the rest, grow up you sad, sad people!
 
amjad175 said:
Scott Kelby has released a new book covering portraits, Professional Portrait Retouching. It doesn't try to teach you everything about Photoshop, just how to do some specific tasks. Slimming down your subject is one of the tasks. ;)

You can take a look inside to see if the style and content suits your needs, well worth the money in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Yes it is pretty good for retouching.
 
try using the correct size model to start with to much ps being used ;)
 
scoff said:
Thanks mate, I've seen that one... its the liquify tool which I've been playing with...
Click to expand...

Don't use too small a brush, it's often easier to nudge things slightly with a bigger one.
 
scoff said:
Whats the best method to slim down a model?

I've had a play with the liquify filter in PS with reasonable results, but only where there is no complexity in the image, like hair or fingers...

Is there a better way to take off an inch or 2? :)
Click to expand...
lots of vegies
 
Keep doing what you're doing but use the freeze tool in the liquify panel to stop movement of areas that you don't want adapted. "People reshaping" is very time consuming.
 
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