Closeups II: I’ve been playing around with Speedlight & Photo Editor to smooth out all the skin defects that I can. I’m not concerned with accurate coloring, in fact I like the...

imp by mike Loc: Minnesota/Wisconsin/North Carolina

I’ve been playing around with Speedlight & Photo Editor to smooth out all the skin defects that I can. I’m not concerned with accurate coloring, in fact I like the results!
What do you think?

fuminous Loc: Luling, LA... for now...

A little too smooth, unnatural smooth, on cheeks and chins, which contrasts uncomfortably with nose/forehead texture... but if your goal is to eliminate all skin defects, you're halfway there.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Mike, let me say I have long been an advocate of close cropping to tell a story. Your work here proves my point.

raymondh Loc: Walker, MI

Mission accomplished!

imp by mike Loc: Minnesota/Wisconsin/North Carolina

fuminous wrote:

A little too smooth, unnatural smooth, on cheeks and chins, which contrasts uncomfortably with nose/forehead texture... but if your goal is to eliminate all skin defects, you're halfway there.

I agree … ain’t it great?!?!
I just wish I knew how SNAPSEED works; why smooths some areas & not others. Using its healing tool just makes it blotchy.
Know of any free app w/a cloning tool? That, I think, would fix it.
Thanks for the input.

imp by mike Loc: Minnesota/Wisconsin/North Carolina

dpullum wrote:

Mike, let me say I have long been an advocate of close cropping to tell a story. Your work here proves my point.

I agree. I’ve tried it on 80-90 faces, just letting the expression & the eyes tell the story. As you can tell, I like the stories!
Thanks for your input!

imp by mike Loc: Minnesota/Wisconsin/North Carolina

raymondh wrote:

Mission accomplished!

Thanks raymondh!

DanielB Loc: San Diego, Ca

imp by mike wrote:

I’ve been playing around with Speedlight & Photo Editor to smooth out all the skin defects that I can. I’m not concerned with accurate coloring, in fact I like the results!
What do you think?

Too much smoothing - try frequency separation to help leave some texture in the skin. Also - dark eyes are very difficult to shoot. Need to get a catch light in those beautiful eyes.

imp by mike Loc: Minnesota/Wisconsin/North Carolina

DanielB wrote:

Too much smoothing - try frequency separation to help leave some texture in the skin. Also - dark eyes are very difficult to shoot. Need to get a catch light in those beautiful eyes.

Sorry you don’t like the smoothing … I know it gives it an unnatural look, but that’s what I’m after in this set. I’ve had to apply the Snapseed “smooth” Looks 2 or 3 times to get it.
As to the eyes, I have just a touch of light in each eye to give them life; or are looking for more?
Thanks for the input!
P.S. I don’t think I’ve seen Frequency Separation in any of the apps that I use.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Stellar acuity Mike...
The impact of "up close and personal" is omnipresent here... and to good effect...

Have you considered B&W renderings?
Sometimes the graphic effect of monochrome can take images like these entirely to the next level...

Thank you for sharing Mike...

DanielB Loc: San Diego, Ca

imp by mike wrote:

Sorry you don’t like the smoothing … I know it gives it an unnatural look, but that’s what I’m after in this set. I’ve had to apply the Snapseed “smooth” Looks 2 or 3 times to get it.
As to the eyes, I have just a touch of light in each eye to give them life; or are looking for more?
Thanks for the input!
P.S. I don’t think I’ve seen Frequency Separation in any of the apps that I use.

If that's what your looking for then it's perfect right. Try portrait professional Pro for a app based Frequency separation. You can do this in Photoshop also but it gets a bit more complicated.
Cheers.

imp by mike Loc: Minnesota/Wisconsin/North Carolina

Thomas902 wrote:

Stellar acuity Mike...
The impact of "up close and personal" is omnipresent here... and to good effect...

Have you considered B&W renderings?
Sometimes the graphic effect of monochrome can take images like these entirely to the next level...

Thank you for sharing Mike...

Thanks for the input Thomas … & does this answer your question?

imp by mike Loc: Minnesota/Wisconsin/North Carolina

DanielB wrote:

If that's what your looking for then it's perfect right. Try portrait professional Pro for a app based Frequency separation. You can do this in Photoshop also but it gets a bit more complicated.
Cheers.

Hi DanielB,
I’ve looked for an app named “portrait professional pro” but can’t find one. I do all of my work right now in my iPhone; am I looking for the right app?
Mike