CREATIVE PROJECTS
8
Start shooting
If you want to soften the effect of the flash you can
direct the light into a light modifier, such as an
umbrella, to create a more diffuse light; you can achieve a
similar effect by using a reflector to bounce the light back on
to your model. When you’re happy with your exposure and
flash settings, switch your lens to AF and start shooting.7
Flash adjustments
If some of the background is illuminated and your
subject is still under-exposed, increase the flash power
and move the flashgun more to the side of your subject, so
that less light is falling on the backdrop. Alternatively, you
can move the flash closer to your model and reduce the
power; the closer it is, the less power will be required, and
this will also reduce the amount of light hitting the backdrop.9
Raw adjustments
Open the starting image in ACR. Set Exposure
to +0.85, then set Shadows to -15 and Blacks to -23
to darken down the shadows. Set Clarity to -20 to soften the
skin; positive Clarity settings are used to enhance detail, but
negative settings enable you to subtly blur fine detail such as
skin blemishes. Click Open Image to open the image in
Elements’ Expert/Full Edit mode, and press Cmd/Ctrl+J
to duplicate the background. Rename the new layer Skin.11
Blur the skin
Alt-click the Layer mask icon to add a black mask
and hide the blur effect, then paint over the skin
with a white brush to reveal the blur. Click the layer’s
image thumbnail, then use the Brush tool to even out areas of
uneven skin tone by Alt-clicking to sample lighter or darker
tones and painting over areas at 15
opacity. Click the top
layer, and press Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+Shift+E to create a merged
layer. Go to Enhance>Convert to Black and White, and select
the Newspaper style.10
Retouch the skin
Use the Spot Healing Brush to tidy up stray hairs
and spots, and the Clone Stamp tool for larger
blemishes; set its opacity to 25
, Alt-click to sample clean
areas and clone these over the marks. Duplicate the Skin layer
and rename the new layer Blur. Go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian
Blur and set Radius to 2 pixels.12
Contrast and sharpening
Add a Levels adjustment layer, and set Shadows to
29 and Midtones to 1.22 to lighten the subject’s
midtones and darken the shadows further. Set the layer
blending mode to Overlay, and reduce its opacity to 60
.
Target Layer 1, select the Dodge tool, set Range to Midtones
and Exposure to 25
, and brush over the eyes and hair to
lighten them. Create another merged layer, go to Enhance>
Unsharp Mask and set Amount to 60
and Radius to 2.8
pixels. Add a black mask as before, and paint the sharpening
back into the eyes and mouth with a white brush.