Doc Barry Loc: Huntsville, Alabama USA

ON1 has released their Portrait AI ahead of ON1 Photo RAW 2021. Very impressive so far.

Ourspolair

I have tried it and don't find it that impressive - I think that I get better results in PS. Since I have it, I will probably use it but you can't turn a pigs ear into a silk purse anyway!

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Better results with tried and true retouching techniques in Photoshop. It's "ok" to do a quick proof, but not for discriminating clients - unless they are Gumbi.

rvenneman Loc: Yuma, AZ

Has anyone tried the portrait retouching with Luminar 4? Or any retouching with Luminar 4?

ppofa Loc: San Bernardino, Ca

DebAnn Loc: Toronto

I get excellent results using PortraitPro Studio. You just have to know not to overdo it.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

When photographers like or dislike any particular PRESET type portrait retouching stand-alone or plug-in software , it is usually because waht the SOFTWARE decides to do with any given subject. The programs I have tried out and decided to use routinely in my studio are the ones with many sliders that enable the operator to modify and control each kind of correction. There is however a caveat, the operator should have a good understanding of facial structure as well as the basic principles of portrait retouching.

I'll explain. Basic skin softening and removal of blemishes is easy enough, a simple healing tool can do that and the degree of softening is just a matter of taste or the client's requirements. When, however, you begin to alter facial structures, change the appearance of the eyes, reshape the mouth, whiten eyes and teeth, slim down a face, or remove detail for the orbital areas of the face (under the eyes), you gotta really know what you are doing. Portrait retouching is an artform, skill and talent in an of to itself. Nowadays, in digital retouching, you don't need as much manual skill as in the old method with pencils, dyes and etching knives, but you still need insight into facial structure and lighting.

So...I am not what I would call an expert master retoucher but as a portrait photographer, I wanted to learn as much as I can to maximize my knowledge, enable myself to do some basic retouching, and be able to communicate and direct retouchers that work in my studio. I took in several seminars given by well-respected master retouchers and although their styles, tastes and techniques varied, there was one important principle that they all agreed upon, that is you have to know WHAT to retouch WHAT NOT to retouch, and WEHN TO STOP RETOUCHING. Basically, if you remove certain lines, natural contours, and indentations on the face, the results will resemble a mask, If you seriously over-retouch a face you will end up with what they jokingly called "an embalming job"!

If you want to work "freehand" with frequency separation, other than simple blemish removal, besides the low and high frequency and layers techniques, you better understand facial structures and norms, otherwise, you are better off with the preset programmes and just learn-to control the sliders to your taste and/or the client's expectations. My full-time in-house retoucher has her own ways and uses frequency separation. Me- I am a big fan of Portrait-Pro but there there are also caveats which I will explain.

If you are the photographer AND the retoucher you have full control over how you light, pose and shoot each subject so you can create files that do not require radical or complex retouching techniques and make certain decisions, at the camera, to decide whether you are going to remedy a problem on the shoot or in retouching and make the best compromises. For example- let's say the subject has a serious double chin or jowls around the chin-jaw area. A slightly higher camera position and higher lighting ratio and more shadow around that area might solve the issue. Suppose, however, the subject also has a very long nose that will intersect with an upper lip at a high angle- you can't shorten the nose effectively in retouching but a lower camera position will fix that so you religate the chin/jaw issue to retouching. There are many other facial charismatics such as asymmetrical facial structures, uneven eye sizes, rough skin and much more that can be addressed in shooting lighting and just tweaked in post-processing and retouching.

The job is to NOT make the subject unrecognizable or perform radical "plastic surgery" but rather to deemphasize certain aspects of the face and body that the subject my consider undesirable or distracting.

There are subjets and times when NO retouchg is required or when everyoneagrees that "just let it all hang out"! There is nothiing wrong woth a detailed portraot study with all the "warts", however, I am in the BUSIBNESS of portait photography and that is not always up to me. Most folks don't mind a little beautification and some demand allot!

Doc Barry Loc: Huntsville, Alabama USA

E.L. Shapiro,

Thank you for an excellent discussion and pointers I expect many will appreciate. The ON1 Portrait AI does a lot of things automatically if you desire and it has a wealth of sliders to allow the retoucher to tweak appropriately. Understanding lighting and camera angles and body positioning is better than trying to fix a bad shot in post IMHO. I started doing portraits back in the 1960s with film of course and you had to get these factors right. I was fortunate that I luck out and became the photographer of a modeling school and of a number of Playboy Bunnies who needed portfolios to get a better job. Now I'm retired and often take photos of people at ballroom dance events we attend. Most of the ladies are 60+ and love my "magic camera" as they say because they think they look ten years younger in my photos. I am supporting your point that changes should be not to morph the person, but to subtly enhance the photograph so that it still looks like the subject and strengthens the strong/good features and weakens the detracting features. Wrinkles are interesting in that they just need to be slightly softened, not removed. Hmmmm.... I wonder how those models and Bunnies look today.

Silverrails

NO... I have Not, but have looked at it and liked what I saw, especially the newer "Luninar AI" upgrade version, although I will require a "Mac" or "Windows" Computer that has all the proper ingredients to run this
"Luminar-AI" version or even the "Luminar-4" version, from my research thus far "Luminar" Photo-Editing Software will not work properly on my "Chromebook 15 #CB5-571 Laptop, I am hoping to get further insight on this Photo-Editing Program.
So, anyone having further knowledge or insight concerning my desire to have this "Luminar AI" Photo-Editing Software, Please respond A.S.A.P.
I am interested in Landscape and Portrait Photography.

Toment Loc: FL, IL

I have, not professionally, and it’s very good.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

I don't care for the "gumbi" look of plasticene skin texture that is almost unavoidable when using so-called portrait enhancers. As EL Shapiro said - frequency separation, along with apply image on its own, custom brushes and blend modes, layers and blend modes, non-destructive dodge and burn, luminosity masking, etc etc etc to narrow adjustments to just the area you want - it's old school but it works. It does take a considerable amount of time to do each image, but the results are well worth it, and once you get the swing of things, good enough for any creative director.

James Pepoon

Mr. Shapiro,
Great artcle! Very well detailed and informative.

Thank you,
Ringo

James Pepoon

Great article and very informative! Thank you.

James pepoon