Great Skin?

[rachel_moses]

<p>I am a beginner..trying to get started in portrait photography. I am trying to get my portfolio built up, and of course I want absolutely amazing pictures.<br>

My question is how this artist was able to make the skin of all of her clients look so crisp and smooth. I have seen this look in several other photographers work. I have CS4 if that helps any. I would rather know how to shoot pictures like this but I do not know if these are all a result of retouching.<br>

Here is the link <a href="http://www.pbsabreena.com/index2.php">http://www.pbsabreena.com/index2.php</a><br>

Sorry for the 'newbie' question. Thanks in advance for any help.</p>

[kevin_delson]

<blockquote>

<p>shoot pictures like this but I do not know if these are all a result of retouching.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Makeup + Professional models (sometimes) negate the need for re-touching blemishes etc...</p>

<p>There are many techniques used to (clear) skin or make it look crisp and almost wrinkle free.</p>

<p>Overlay layer + Gaussian blur +De-sat + color pick + soft brush + Low Opacity is one of the many basic techniques.</p>

<p>I didn't see the specific photo you are making reference to?</p>

[weikle_chan]

<p>Post-processing is as important as photography,many great images in this forum are the combination of this two kind of skill.</p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>I'm not sure which photos you mean. Perhaps you're referring to the slightly blown out shots? Overexpose (or better, blow out the highlights in postprocessing), and you'll see wrinkles and blemishes fade. You can do it with a bit more finesse if you apply sigmoidal (slightly "S"-shaped) contrast curves with shallow slopes in the highlight and shadow regions and steeper slope in the middle. I personally don't like blown-out skin tones, but many people do. This style was very popular in the '80's.</p>

[rachel_moses]

<p>I couldn't find a link to put just one specific picture, but yes all of the photos with the slightly overexposed skin. Personally, D'd be afraid to overexpose the pictures so i might just stick to trying to achieve this look in post-processing. Thanks for the help :)</p>

[connie_wagner]

<p>I've used Corel Paint Shop Pro and there's a one click button for skin smoothing that I just love. </p>

[r_johnston]

<p>In Photoshop there are many tricks you can use, but it takes practice.<br>

Then there are many plug-in addons that make it easier or quicker to do what you want.</p>