Then, I changed the layer blend mode to Color and deselected. While my selection was still in place, I added a new blank layer, got the Eyedropper tool (I), clicked it once on her iris to steal that color and make it my Foreground color, then pressed Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill the circle with that color. Then, I pressed Command-Shift-U (PC: Ctrl-Shift-U) to Desaturate the green part of the ring, making it black and white. So, with the Elliptical Marquee tool (press Shift-M until you have it), I put a circular selection around the center of the ring, went under the Select menu, under Modify, chose Feather, and added a 2-pixel feather to soften the edge a bit. The ring the model is wearing was actually a dark green when I took the shot, but I didn’t think it matched her eyes very well with it that close to her face. In this case, some of her hair is blocking me from going all the way down on the left side of her face, but that’s perfectly fine. So, exactly what areas are we going to darken? Basically, we darken the areas on either side of the bridge of her nose, right under her bottom lip, and along the cheekbones on either side of her face.Īnother area I always burn is right along the hairline, all the way around her forehead (as shown here), kind of making a semi-circle going from her left ear, up to the top of her head, then down to the other ear. Here, with my Foreground color set to black, I’m making a few strokes along her cheek on the left to darken that area. Now, here’s what we’re going to do: on this new layer, we’re going to paint over the dark shadow areas in black to make them darker, and then paint over the highlight areas in white to make them brighter (so, things that extend out from the face get brighter, and the shadow areas get darker). You want to be able to gradually build up your strokes as you go (of course, if you’re using a Wacom tablet, just leave your Opacity set at 100%, and use the Pressure Sensitivity of the tablet to control the buildup of your strokes). Get the Brush tool (B), choose a medium-sized, soft-edged brush from the Brush Picker up in the Options Bar, and while you’re there, lower the brush Opacity amount to 10%. This adds a new layer filled with 50% gray (as you see here), but because it’s set to Soft Light, it appears transparent, which makes it perfect for dodging and burning, because later we can blur this layer to soften the effect. In the New Layer dialog (shown here), change the blend Mode to Soft Light, then turn on the Fill with Soft-Light-Neutral Color (50% Gray) checkbox, and click OK. It’s not to be confused with the dodging-and-burning technique used by high-end retouchers for smoothing skin, using the pixel-by-pixel, pore-by-pore method.) Start by going to the Layers panel and choosing New Layer from the panel’s flyout menu.
( Note: This dodging-and-burning technique is for sculpting the face. Here’s the image we’re going to use for our dodging and burning project. This adds so much dimension, I take the extra time to do this to nearly every image I retouch, so for me, it’s almost like a “finishing move” that gives the image that extra depth. This is a very popular technique that accentuates the existing highlights and shadows in your subject’s face, and gives the face lots of depth and dimension for a really pleasing look.
Scott kelby perfect layers professional#
An excerpt from Scott Kelby’s Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop