Enhancing the Teeth. Using the Lasso tool, with the feathering set at 5
to 10 pixels, outline her teeth. Then, go to Image > Adjustments > Curves.
Put a point on the center of the diagonal line and move it up slightly. Again,
don’t overdo this or she’ll look like an alien.
Enhancing the Skin.Lastly, you need to pay attention to her skin. First
take care of any blemishes or scars. This can be accomplished using either
the Clone Stamp tool or the Healing Brush. I prefer the Clone Stamp tool,
but that’s because I’m old school have been working with Photoshop since
version 2.0—and there was no Healing Brush back then. With whichever
tool you prefer, select a brush that is just slightly larger than the imperfection
you want to fix. Then, sample a clear skin area by pressing and holding
Opt/Alt and clicking with your mouse, and simply brush over the area you’d
like to fix.
To smooth the skin, choose the Brush tool and set the flow and opacity
as you did to enhance the lips (see page 91). Press Opt/Alt and click to sam-
ple the skin tone in the area of her face you’d like to smooth. As you move
to different areas of her face, you’ll have to keep sampling her skin tone for
a natural look. Keep in mind that what you want to do is smooth the skin and
reduce wrinkles, lines, eye bags, etc. Less is more here. If you overdo it, your
subject won’t look natural. For instance, light shadows under eyes are natu-
ral, so blend and lighten them, don’t try to eliminate them. The same goes
for wrinkles. Look to take ten years off your subject’s age. If your client is
forty, don’t try to make her look eighteen—it won’t be believable.
Digital Glow. You could stop now. The image you have in front of you
is saleable. But let’s add a glow to her skin.
- Go to Layer > Duplicate Layer.
- Go to Filter > Distort > Diffuse Glow. In the dialog box that
appears, play with the sliders to get just the look you want. - Go to Edit > Fade Diffuse Glow. You’ll notice you have a number
of mode options. My favorites are normal, hard light, and soft
92 MASTER GUIDE FOR GLAMOUR PHOTOGRAPHY
LEFT—The Diffuse Glow dialog box lets you
customize the effect of the filter. ABOVE—The
Fade dialog box lets you reduce or alter the ef-
fect of the Diffuse Glow filter.