softening a potrait in photoshop

[makario]

Hiya,

I took a few potrait photos over the weekend and I found that some of the close-ups were too sharp, which meant the pores on the faces were shown. I would like to know of any Photoshop technique that I can use to get a nice soft, dreamy look. Here is the image I would like to work on
Please feel free to work on it, but please tell me the steps you followed.



Thanks in advance
Cheers
Mak

[Oz_Beachside]

there are many masters in PP in here, so I will share what some have taught me...

firstly, be very sensitive when editing, always get permission for the level of editing you so, as you dont want to offend the subject.

I will often use the band aid (quick healing brush) to remove spots (dust on sensor, acne scars, small bruises, sometimes a spot approach to life lines). if a gentle blur, perhaps using the blur tool, or if going in heavy, use layer mask, then try filter/median blur, just a few pixels (depending on your images relative resolution).

give those two a go...

[adame]

Removing blemishes etc can be done with the healing tools. To get that dreamy glowing affect. Layer>Duplicate Layer , Then Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur For an image this small a radius of about 4-5 pixels works well, Now you have a blurry picture, In the layers pallet Adjust the opacity of the new layer to gain the desired effect.

Cheers
Adam

[Matt. K]

This is from memory
Make a copy (ctrl +j).....FILTER/OTHER/HIGHPASS about 12.......FILTER/BLUR/GAUSSIAN BLUR about 4....image adjustment/DESATURATE.......IMAGE ADJUSTMENT/INVERT....layers pallet/change blending mode to soft light or overlay depending on what looks best to you. Then adjust opacity of top layer to fine tune the adjustment. Use the eraser tool at about 50% to rub through the top layer to bring back detail in the eyes, jewelry etc

[Greg B]

Mak, any kind of noise reduction plugin will have a smoothing effect. Quite handy.

This is from Noise Ninja with smoothing set to 20 (max)....................Original for comparison

[makario]

wow Thanks Bruce, Adam, Matt and Greg for the tips and tricks just what I was after. Cant wait to go howe and try these out. Damn'd inconvenient being at work.

[Bob G]

If you want to get ultra serious about it here is a link to a great tutorial

http://www.christyschuler.com/retouching.html

[makario]

Thanks Bob for the information.

Cheers
Mak

[Viz]

That is awesome Greg, I have always battled the smooth... this is a paradigm shift to embrace it.

[digifrog]

nOISE nINJA does a great job of softening without overdoing it