subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 31 August 2019 35
ALL
PCTURES©
JAMES
PATERSONRetouch
Discovera hostoftips,tricksand
techniquesfornatural-lookingportrait
enhancements. JamesPatersonshows you how
Enhancingeyes
Oneof thebesttoolsforboostingeyesis the
AdjustmentBrush.Foundin CameraRawand
Lightroom(orviatheCameraRawfilterin
Photoshop),thetoolletsyouapplyseveral
tonalchangesat once.Sowithaniris,wemight
wanttoloadthetoolwithpositiveSaturation,
Clarity,ExposureandContrast,thenpaint
preciselyovertheiris(makingsurenottogo
overthepupil).Theiriscanbeenhanced
furtherbydarkeningtherim- againwecan
usetheAdjustmentBrush,hitN fora new
adjustment,thenloadthebrushwithnegative
Exposureandpaintaroundtheedgeof theiris
todarkenit slightly.Thewhitesof theeyescan
alsobenefit froma subtlelifttoexposure,
whichis easilydonebyaddinga thirdpin.
Finally,theSpotRemovaltoolcanbeusedto
healanybloodvesselsthatstandout.4 Healing Brush
Like the Clone tool, the Healing
Brush requires you to Alt-click
to target a point in the image
before painting to remove a messy
area. It’s best to target somewhere similar in
tone and detail. It can be useful to switch to
the Healing Brush when the Spot Healing
Brush slips up.
5 Spot Removal
Found in Camera Raw and
Lightroom, this isn’t quite as
practical as the retouching tools
in Photoshop, but is useful for
removing the odd pimple! Grab the tool from
the toolbar then paint over a mark and you’ll
see a green and red pin appear. If necessary,
drag the red pin to sample a clean area nearby.P
ortrait retouching has come
a long way in recent times.
Thankfully, many of the trends
that plagued the early years of
digital imaging now look outdated. These
days we can all spot an overly processed
portrait – the blindingly white eyes, the
plastic skin, the hyperreal tones – so now
there’s more of an emphasis on natural-
looking retouching.
Of course, the fl ip side of this is that- with enough skills – it’s easier than ever
to completely change the way a person
looks, but in a way that looks almost
entirely natural. We can reshape bodies,
change hair colour, enlarge eyes, eradicate
wrinkles, swap heads, comp in muscles
and more. But just because we can, it
doesn’t mean we should. There is a fi ne
line between subtle augmentation and
excessive manipulation.
Those of us who use Photoshop regularly
know the huge depth and potential it
off ers, but to the layman, its name is
synonymous with one thing: artifi cial
portrait enhancements. As such,
retouching is often seen as a negative, but
ask almost any person if they want that zit
removed before you print the photo, and
there will only be one answer. As such, the
job of the responsible retoucher should be
about making a person appear at their
very best without looking fake or
unnatural. The techniques explored
over the following few pages can all
help you achieve this...
James Paterson
James is as skilled a photo editor as he is a photographer. His
work has appeared in countless magazines and books, and in
2014 he was appointed editor of Practical Photoshop magazine.
His subjects range from portraits to landscapes, architecture
and underwater scenes. For James, Photoshop is more than
just a work tool. Visit http://www.patersonphotos.com.Photoshop
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