Information Contraband » Retouching

The Best Photoshop and Lightroom Tutorials Available

Andrew — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:35:59 +0000

I use Photoshop and Lightroom every day. I know the “how” of color correction and retouching with those tools. What remains to be learned is the interesting part, the part that I get from watching good thinkers attack problems— their “why”, their approach and perspective. It’s different from mine, and it gets me thinking in ways I haven’t before. His videos are perfect for that.

He’s thoughtful and precise; not all jokey and digressive. He has a good, subtle voice, and sounds like someone with whom you could have a really great conversation.

Here’s a good free one on B&W conversions to get you introduced to the man’s excellent style.

Giving Away the Farm

Andrew — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:35:19 +0000

Photoshop’s Vanishing Point can push the grids back into your document. Make a new ~~white-filled layer that is set to Multiply Mode~~ empty layer before you head into Vanishing Point. In VP, check out the drop-down menu in the upper left-hand corner (it’s tiny). Turn on Render Grids to Photoshop, draw your grids, and hit OK. Now you have grids on their own layer. It will save you a LOT of time when matching type to box faces or other perspective-y things.

When you have something you wanna liquefy, get it on its own layer, or a merged layer with everything.

(Use The Claw [Command+Shift+Option+E/Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E])

and then Image>Image size>[something smaller here, but still big enough to see properly];

then Liquefy, and when you’re done, before you hit ok, Save Mesh and Cancel.

Step back in history to just before you resized.

Filter>Liquefy, Load Mesh, OK.

This will let you work on a lower res image (faster in Liquefy’s private memory space) and also allow you to use much larger brush sizes relative to the image. I always save right before I run heavy duty filters like Liquefy, in case of a crash.

The combination of these two things will let you use grids of any size inside Liquefy. Resize your file, Vanishing Point yourself some grids on a new layer, do your Liquefy, (Save Mesh and Cancel), step back a couple of steps in History, make sure you’re on the right layer, run Liquefy (Load Mesh, OK) and there you are.

This all sounds like a giant pain in the ass, but it’s actually very fast.

|| Thanks to +Dennis Dunbar for pointing out that VP can draw grids on a blank layer. I thought it had to be filled with pixels. He’s got a good tutorial on grids-from-VP here: http://www.dunbardigital.com/blog/blog.php?id=381721930900789741

Making Models Fatter in Photoshop

Andrew — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:48:41 +0000

“The editor of Vogue has accused some of the world’s leading catwalk designers of pushing ever thinner models into fashion magazines despite widespread public concern over “size-zero” models and rising teenage anorexia.”

Go read the rest.

As long as the pendulum swings, I’ll have work.

Retouching is the Right Thing to Do

Andrew — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:32:43 +0000

Interesting take on the ethics of retouching.

Grand Theft Lego Evolution Video

Andrew — Sun, 10 May 2009 06:34:50 +0000

Click here. I’ll figure out how to do the direct embed later.

Grand Theft Lego, Part 1 Behind the Scenes

Andrew — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:17:55 +0000

HDR is all too often over-the-top, sort of illustrated looking. I’ve done it myself—there’s a strange pull to see how Three-Dee you can get those clouds to look. But it can also be more subtle, and that’s what we are shooting for in the Legos Gone Bad series. (Yes, there are more to come)

Partner in crime David Pahl shot twelve exposures of each element, and I merged three to five of each together so that I had complete control over the amount of light falling on every part of the shot.

A little dodging, a lot of burning, some serious pounding on the color, and we got this:

(click images for bigger versions)

Thanks to Jay Roth, James Pelz and Tom Pounders for all the help and ideas.

Cupidski

Andrew — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:28:20 +0000

David Pahl and I worked on a Valentines Day Project for Pure—Check his site for details and the “After” version. It was great working with someone who so thoroughly understands what I need in order to make the post-work perfect. P.S. Props to Pure for getting the advertising mentioned in the news on all three networks, all the local papers as well as the WSJ and NYT. Amazing bit of PR, that.

Sex, Lies and Photoshop

Andrew — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:16:53 +0000

Interesting post over on theonlinephotographer about retouching and responsibility. I like Katrin Eismann’s solution to the problem (read the comments). What is your take on this issue?

Hey, my favorite agency client just got himself a British accent!

Andrew — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:19:09 +0000

You know who you are.

‘Real Beauty’ Pix Rumor Stopper

Andrew — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:09:53 +0000

The rumor mill is gearing up to grind out all sorts of nasty stories about Unilever and the Dove ‘Real Beauty’ campaign. Retoucher Pascal Dangin’s comments were placed in the wrong context on the New Yorker website, and a bunch of people are jumping up and down claiming that the photos were retouched. (The New Yorker profile, by the way, is quite amusing. The writer, Lauren Collins, seems inexperienced, in love with Dangin, and gullible. “He has been known to work for days tinting a field of grass what he considers the most expressive shade of green.” Puh-leeze!

The real story, parts one and two, is available on the AdAge website.

Why do so many assume that the bad or unpleasant is the truth?