In this tutorial, we will look at several techniques for creating a dramatic portrait in Adobe Photoshop. Here the tool will be actively used mixer Brush(Mixing brush) and retouching technique Dodge and Burn(Lighten and darken), to emphasize the main details and get a dramatic effect.
To complete this tutorial, you will need the version Adobe photoshopCC, as it was in it that significant updates took place. We will use an adjustment layer color lookup(Search for color), retouch the skin of the model, and also try out a new filter camera Raw, which has become available since version CC. But one way or another, if you have a different version of the program installed, you will get a similar result.
The translation is based on the lesson posted on the YouTube video portal, so we will do our best to make it clear and easy for you to complete.
Step 1
First, you need to separate the model from the background. For this, the author used the tool pen(Feather) (P), for more precise selection. After the model is completely selected, press the right mouse button and select Make Selection(Create selection). Radius (feather) put feathers - 1 px. Then apply a layer mask to the selected model. If there are still some errors, you can remove them with a black brush on the layer mask.
To make the edges of the model look more neat, you can use the function Refine edge(Refine Edge) with the settings as in the screenshot.
Also, the author advises to pay attention to the remaining contour around the model. It can be darkened with layer style(Layer style) Inner Shadow(Inner shadow) with the settings shown in the screenshot.
Name the model layer « Model».
Step 2
Now let's open the background image (ctrl + O) , or just transfer the picture to the program. Blur the background with a filter Gaussian Blur(Gaussian blur). Blur the background so that no details are visible. The author used a filter with a radius 106 .
Step 3
Let's start removing defects on the face. Let's create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N). name it fix. Let's use it as clipping Mask(clipping mask) to the layer with the model « Model» . Also, check the box next to sample all Layers(Sample from all layers).
Now, using the tool Healing Brush Tool(Spot Healing Brush), remove some defects on the face.
Next, create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N ) and let's call it soft. Apply it as a clipping mask to the layer fix. With the help of a tool mixer Brush(Mixing brush) with the settings shown in the screenshot, smooth out the skin of the model. Also, don't forget to check the box next to sample all Layers(Sample from all layers).
The result you should get:
Step 4
Let's create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N ). Let's call it R. Let's use the tool again pen(Feather)(P). In the settings, on the options panel at the top, instead of Path, put shape. Thus, the new contour will be automatically filled with a fill. Let's create a contour around the right (from us) lens on the glasses. For ease of selection, it is recommended to slightly reduce Fill(Fill), this layer, up to 64% .
Now let's move on to the selection of the second lens. Create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) and call it L. Also select the lens along the contour and slightly reduce Opacity(Opacity) of this layer, up to 64% .(Translator's note) For a closer acquaintance with the instrument pen(Feather) (P) you can study this article https://site/articles/tools_a/kak-rabotat-s-perom.html
Once everything is ready, go to the layer R and apply for it layer style(layer style) Gradient overlay(Gradient overlay) (or by double-clicking on the layer with the left mouse button) with the settings as in the screenshot.
Use a gradient from #2 f2368 to # ffffff. The result you should get:
Now let's just move layer style(Layer style) (hold down the alt) from layer R per layer L.
This is how the glasses of the model should turn out:
Create a group and move both layers there. name the group « Glasses».
Now let's create an adjustment layer Hue/Saturation(Hue/Saturation) and apply it as clipping Mask(Clipping Mask) to the lens group.
Move the slider Hue(Color tone) to value -37 .
Step 5
Now we need to create a small shadow from the glasses. To do this, create a new layer under the group « Glasses» . name it « glass Shadow» .
Next, with the key pressed ctrl, click on layer L. Thus, a circular selection will appear around the lens. Go to Select(Highlight) - Modify(Modification) - Expand(Expand). Set the expansion radius 5px. The selection will become wider. Next, go Select(Highlight) - inverse(Invert) (or right click on selection and Select inverse) (Alt+Ctrl+I). Now, using the tool Brush(Brush) (B) With Feather(Opacity) and flow(Pressed) by 50% and low hardness , leave a slight shadow around the outline of the frame, leaving the shadow behind the glasses.
Then, do the same manipulation for the right frame.
If you have extra traces of the shadow, just remove them with the help of the tool Eraser(Eraser) (E).
If the shadow seems unrealistic to you, i.e. too dark, you can apply a filter Gaussian Blur(Gaussian blur).
Translator's note: to select the shadow, you can use any selection tool. The author used Rectangular Marquee Tool(rectangular selection) (M)).
Leave the blur radius at 3px. Drag the final option to the group « Glasses» .
So, the result of the performed actions:
Step 6
Gradient Fill(Gradient fill) on top of all layers. Make a gradient from white to transparent.
Note. author: The pink light falling on the model on the left is shown in such a way that it can be seen better. Also, the blend mode was used for this layer.Soft light(Soft light). LowerOpacity (Opacity) of this layer until you are satisfied with the result.
Turn down Opacity(Opacity) of this layer to 30% and change the blend mode to Soft light(Soft light).
Step 7
Create a New Adjustment Layer color lookup(Color search). In subsection 3D Lut File select Edgy Amber 3 DL. Reduce Opacity(Opacity) of this layer up to 15%.
Step 8
Create a New Adjustment Layer Curves(Curves). Go to the blue channel in this layer and drag the bottom point to toned the image in shadows and highlights, thereby adding a split toning effect, as in the screenshot.
And the top point.
The result that should be
Step 9
Create an adjustment layer again Gradient Fill(Gradient fill) with color from f6dfb2 to transparent with the settings as in the screenshot.
Now move the gradient to the top left corner like in the screenshot:
Also, there is another alternative way.
Portrait is probably one of the most popular genres in photography. Everyone who starts to get involved in photography shoots portraits.
But with the processing of these portraits it turns out worse. The percentage of high-quality processed portraits is very small, which is frustrating, given the number of photographers per capita in modern Russia.
This post will explain in Photoshop. To be more precise, I will tell you my way of processing
How to start processing a portrait photo
The first thing you need to start processing a portrait photo is to analyze the photo and develop a work plan. As a rule, opening the image, the processor immediately looks at the face, eyes, skin defects, and thus pays little attention to the overall picture.
Start your analysis by looking at the photo as a whole. To accustom yourself to this, reduce the photo by zoom so that the details are not readable and do not distract you.
What you need to pay attention to when studying the photo (the order does not matter):
- Is the image balanced in tone and color?
- How do the contours of the figure and clothes look?
- Are the proportions of the body preserved and is there any deformation?
- Is the lighting and exposure correct?
- Is the image properly focused?
- Are there any defects in the background?
After that, you can conduct a detailed examination of the photo and identify the following questions for yourself:
- Do I need to remove dust from the photo?
- What skin and body defects need to be removed?
- Is makeup treatment necessary?
- Whether it is necessary to adjust the shape of the body.
- Do I need to correct the lips and other facial features?
In principle, everyone should develop their own algorithm of work, I this moment I stick to the above.
Advice: Flip through magazines, study the classics, and not only photos, but in general fine Arts. This will contribute to your overall development as a photographer and retoucher.
Treatment
We opened the photo after converting from RAW.
Let's analyze it and decide how we want to process it.
For details:
- The face is clean, there are almost no defects. It is necessary to remove moles and slightly smooth the skin while maintaining texture. Remove wrinkles above the left eye.
- The eyes are very red. Remove redness and remove wreaths.
- Facial features do not need to be corrected.
- Slightly change the shape of the hairstyle above the head.
- Make lipstick color more intense
Step-by-step processing of a portrait photo
Any processing begins with the fact that I duplicate the main layer and hide it. This gives me the ability to undo any change, even if it is no longer available in the History panel, this time. I can always hide the changes, look at the original and see if I did worse than it was, these are two.
note it is very important to make a new layer after each processing step. And leave the previous one as insurance. For example, if you blurred the skin and started working on, then with any mistake you will not be able to return to the original, because the original contains an image with raw skin.
Thus, you always have 2 layers of the original photo and the last processing option to which you can roll back. If this seems superfluous to you, then you can delete the original and it is enough just to have the last version that you are sure of.
First step We remove all skin defects, moles and wrinkles. This is done with the Healing Brush tool, and Clone Stamp (but there should be a brush with an opacity of 20-30%) and go ahead.
Advice: When reading lessons, watching videos or sitting at a master class, do not be driven by the numbers that are used in the settings. Try to understand what values are needed for what and experiment on your images.
It remains to process the eyes. To do this, take the Clone Stamp with an opaque brush, increase the image to 300% and carefully remove the wreaths. The eyes remain a bit dark, but we will fix this in the next steps.
Next, I want to straighten the hair, reshape and remove the strand that stands out. This is best done with the Liquify tool, it's in my Filter. In order not to upload the entire photo to Liquify, we need to select the area that we need to process.
Leather processing
Now we are ready to make the model's skin more glamorous and even. To do this, do the following:
- A copy of the layer, this will be our main layer, which we do not touch.
- Copy the blur layer, we get two blur layers on top of the normal one.
- Set the first layer to Darken blending mode, opacity 50%, the second Lighten and opacity about 60. The higher the opacity of the Lighten layer, the more the skin will glow as a result.
- Now we need to add noise, which will be an analogue of the skin texture. Create a new layer, through the menu Layer -> New -> Layer .. select the blending mode Overlay and check the box below to fill the layer with 50% gray. We get a new layer that does not affect the picture.
But you can make it even more interesting. For example, add volume using Photoshop. As you understand, volume is just a light-shadow. To give the photo additional volume, you can create a new layer and work on it with the Dodge and Burn tools.
We draw volume and work with light and shadow.
Working with Dodge and Burn is not convenient because you draw both highlights and shadows on the same layer. To separate the light and shadow into layers, do the following.
Duplicate the main layer twice. Assign a black mask to each layer. One layer set to Multiply blending mode, the second layer set to Screen blending mode.
Without going into too much detail, Multiply darkens the entire image, while Screen brightens it. By painting with a semi-transparent brush over the Screen layer, we lighten the necessary areas, and darken them using Multiply. You can do this not only to create volume, but also for any correction of lights and shadows.
To enhance the volume, we will lighten the light areas and darken the dark ones. In our case, we will lighten the protruding areas of the face of the forehead and cheekbones, and darken the lips and cheeks. I painted a little more on the hair to lighten the roots and darken the light areas.
It is difficult to notice changes in such a photo, but believe me, they are very significant.
It remains only to add sharpness and contrast. There are many ways in this case i use high pass filter
- As a result, we get such a card
And the final touch is to duplicate the layer, blend mode Overlay, black mask and paint over the hair with a brush to give it a little goldenness.
Let's see what happened in the end layer by layer.
Visual comparison, you can click for a larger resolution.
And the result
Video "Processing a portrait photo in Photoshop"
If you want to consolidate the material, I highly recommend watching the following video tutorials made specifically for this article. They explain everything in the most detailed way. You can choose a high resolution and enlarge the video to full screen to see all the details of the work.
Outcome
This portrait photography processing in Photoshop takes about 20-30 minutes. Depending on the requirements of the customer, automation using actions and other nuances.
Naturally, all of the above can be done in a variety of ways, and I do not claim that the option I have proposed is the best.
With the help of Photoshop, you can easily hide the facts of losing weight. The main thing is to do more and skill will come to you over time! Don't be afraid to experiment with different photos.
The human eye is far superior to any, even the most advanced camera. Therefore, the colors and shadows seen by the eye are very different from the image on the camera. Looking at each other, we do not pay attention to redness on the skin, bags under the eyes, a protruding tummy, sticking out strands of hair. However, in the frame it is very noticeable.
To eliminate imperfections, photos are retouched. When retouching a female portrait, we strive for a fragile image, perfect skin, luxurious hair and rejuvenation. But a male portrait should leave an impression of masculinity, so you should not completely remove wrinkles on it, make perfect skin.
Consider step by step one of the ways to retouch a male portrait. The picture was provided by the photographer, organizer of expeditions to exotic places of the world Alexander Permyakov. The portrait was taken with a Nikon camera. Retouching was carried out in Russified Adobe Photoshop CC 2017.
NIKON D7000 / Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D SETTINGS: ISO 100, F1.8, 1/50s, 75.0mm equiv.
Many photographers are against retouching, arguing that the picture can look beautiful without processing. Well, in our case, there is a good cut-off pattern in the frame. But for perfection, the portrait lacks a few strokes. It is necessary to even out the skin tone (get rid of redness) and remove extra spots on the face, increase highlights (they emphasize details), lighten the dark part a little, add sharpness. Highlighting dark fragments is more difficult if the shooting was carried out in low light - noise may appear. However, Nikon cameras shoot with minimal noise even in difficult lighting conditions. If noise does appear, it is monochrome, comparable to film. This makes it easier to lighten shadows in photographs, making it easier to lighten dark areas without annoying noise and loss of detail.
Let's get started!
Open the photo in Photoshop. Be sure to make a copy of the layer (Ctrl + J) and work with it. This will allow you to quickly restore losses in case of failure or simply compare the result before and after processing. Enlarge the image to 100% (key combination Ctrl and + to increase, Ctrl and - to decrease).
We carefully examine the skin to understand what defects need to be eliminated. This photo shows the stains that we will get rid of first.
You can use several tools, but in this case, the Healing Brush Tool is more suitable.
We select the appropriate brush size and click to eliminate all unnecessary spots. The size of the brush can be adjusted using the keys in the alphabetic part of the keyboard: "x" - decrease, "b" - increase. In the brush settings, set the parameter "Source" (Sourse) - "Sample." (Sample), Mode (Mode) - “Normal” (Normal). Leave Hardness at 100%.
We bring the brush cursor to the area that we will paint over, and, holding down the Alt key, select a healthy area of skin suitable for replacement. So we get a sample of the area with which we will paint over the defect.
At the time of painting, the cross will indicate the source. We remove all unnecessary stains and rashes.
The result of painting over spots:
The next step is to eliminate redness and even out skin tone.
Everyone has redness. If before shooting the skin was not toned with makeup, red spots in the photo will be required. In the case of a female portrait, things are simpler: women usually put on makeup before shooting. But not every man will agree to fall into the hands of a makeup artist.
The photo circled areas of skin with an uneven tone (redness):
Create an adjustment layer with the Hue/Saturation effect. You can call it in the lower right corner on the toolbar under the layers.
You will have a new layer and the effect control window will open.
We pass to the red channel, click on the pipette, and then on the area of redness that we want to get rid of.
After that, you will see the shift in the spectrum.
Raise the saturation and hue to around 70-73.
By moving the checkers on the gradient, we ensure that the coating is not all over the skin, but only in those areas where you want to remove redness.
Reset the saturation to zero, and move the hue until we see the desired effect. In my case, it is +15.
Now we need to restore the natural color of the lips, since the pink tint has disappeared along with the redness. To do this, select the tool “Brush” (Brush), set the color to black, select the desired size and paint over the lips with a brush, remaining on the adjustment layer “Hue / Saturation”.
Result:
Now we need to return the details and highlights lost during processing.
To do this, create a new layer (Ctrl + Shift + N). Go to the "Channels" layout of this layer.
Here the image is decomposed into channels. Turn off each channel one by one (click on the eye to the left of the image icon). Our task is to choose the most contrasting channel. Obviously, it is blue, it retains more details.
Create a duplicate of the blue channel (select it and right-click on "Duplicate Channel"). Next we work with a copy of the blue channel. All other channels must be invisible. We stand on a copy of the blue channel and press the key combination Ctrl + l. The channel levels window will appear.
Drag the input value checker a little to the right, click Ok. This will enhance the contrast.
Now select only the light areas of the channel. To do this, hold down the Ctrl key and click on the icon of your blue channel. You will see dotted highlights in the light areas. It may seem that not everything is selected, but do not hesitate, indeed all the light areas are selected.
Go to the "Layers" layout and create a new one (Ctrl + Shift + N). At the same time, your selection of light areas is preserved (dotted lines are noticeable).
Select the Brush tool, set the color to white and paint over the new layer. You can paint everything or those places where you want to increase the brightness of highlights. White color will lie down only on light areas of the image. If you plan to paint everything, keep the brush diameter large.
Below is the result. Notice how the details have changed. Try turning off and on the visibility of the bottom layer by holding down the Alt key. So you will see the picture before and after processing.
In the photo, the arrows indicate some areas where the details have become more expressive. For comparison: on the “before” option, an arrow is indicated on the background; after processing, it also became lighter.
If you want the highlights to be less light, reduce the transparency of the highlights layer to the desired result.
Perhaps this method of enhancing highlights seemed difficult to you, because on a new layer you can simply paint white highlights with a brush and blend them. But it will look rough, the highlights will fall unnaturally. I propose to enhance only those highlights that the camera captured.
The final touch is sharpening. Select all layers and press the key combination Shift + Ctrl + Alt + E. This will merge all layers with effects into a new layer. Now duplicate the resulting layer and apply the filter “Color Contrast” (High Pass) to it.
In the window that opens, move the checker to the right until details appear on the image (look at the main image, not at the fragment in the settings window).
That's all! Try, experiment, share your experience in the comments.
Final result:
Step 1
Open the girl's photo in Photoshop. Double click on the background layer to unlock it. Name it "woman". Create a new layer (Create New Layer) under the photo layer and fill it with black using the tool Fill (Paint Bucket Tool).
Step 2
This step is very important, we will create shadows on the girls. This will help create a focus point and define the illuminated area. To the layer with the girl add a layer mask (Layer Mask), select the tool Brush (Brush Tool) with soft edges and opacity 50%. Draw black on the edges of the canvas on the mask as shown below. The mask will hide the girl's layer pixels and reveal the bottom black layer.
Lower the opacity of the brush to 20-25% and paint on the left side of the face, arms and shoulder. Don't worry if you over stroke the layer mask, we'll fix that later.
Set the fill color to white and lower the opacity of the brush to 10%. Paint on the mask the areas of the canvas that were overpainted earlier. If you want to create a smoother transition from shadows to light, apply a filter Gaussian Blur (Gaussian Blur Filter) to the mask.
It took me 30 minutes to achieve the desired result, although this is not a very difficult process.
Step 3
Since we did not reduce the size of the photo, all the imperfections on the face are visible. Now we will do a little retouching. Select the Spot Healing Brush Tool, create a new layer (Create New Layer) and in the tool settings set the value Sample from all layers (Sample All Layers). In the screenshot below, I marked the areas that need to be processed.
Step 4
Now we will work on strengthening the shadows and highlights of the girl. Create a new layer (Create New Layer) and fill it with 50% gray (Shift + F5). Set Blending Mode – Overlay (Blending Mode – Overlay). Use the Dodge Tool and Burn Tool to paint over the layer as shown below.
The result before and after changing the blend mode:
Step 5
Now let's move on to color correction. Create an adjustment layer Selective color correction (Layer – Selective Color). Adjust Neutrals and Black tones.
Step 6
For greater effect, you can create glows on the colors of the girl's rim. Create three new layers with Blending Mode – Lightening basics (Blending Mode – Color Dodge). With a dark brush, paint over the marked areas in the screenshot below. On the "Lights 3 Color Dodge" layer, I used a large soft brush and a green brush on the eyes.
Step 7
General lighting can be adjusted using the Lighting Effects Filter. First you need to merge all layers into one (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + E) and then apply a filter.
Step 8
Now let's create the light rays. Tool Polygonal lasso (Polygonal Lasso Tool) create triangular figures on a new layer. Then apply the Motion Blur Filter several times. Offset (Distance) depends on the size of the photo, I used a value of 999 pixels. After that, apply a filter Gaussian Blur (Gaussian Blur Filter) to make the light rays softer. Lower the Opacity of the layer to 20-25%.
Step 9
Now let's create particles. Select a tool Brush (Brush Tool) and go to the brush palette (F5) and set it up like this:
Shape Dynamics: Size Jitter - 90:
Scattering: Scatter - 1000%, Count - 1
Double brush (Dual Brush): choose Spatter 14 as the second brush, you can experiment with other settings.
You still need to master the processing of portrait photography.
Open the RAW file. First we correct the White Balance by shifting the tint (Tint) towards green. In the Camera Calibration tab, we set a profile for our camera, if there is none - Adobe Standard.
In the first tab, adjust the exposure (Exposure) to a value of + 0.15 and set the black and white points. To do this, with the ALT key held down, first move the Blacks slider until black spots appear, then move the Whites slider in the same way. I try not to use the “Shadows and Lights” tab, because they have a destructive effect on
picture.
Correction for each photo is individual. In this case, I do not make the photo as strong as possible in order to increase this parameter in Adobe Photoshop by masking in areas where it is required. I open the image (Open Image). Then, when framing this shot, I cut off the coast line.
I divide further processing into two stages: retouching and color correction. 
Retouching a portrait photo
I always start this processing step with the Liquify filter if needed.
Go to the menu "Filter" - Liquify. My brush settings look like this: "Transparency" - 20% and "Press" - 20%. it
allows you to apply "Plastic" more delicately. I also use a graphics tablet, which speeds up the painstaking process.
In the "Plastic" filter, I correct the line of the neck, making it thinner.
Next, I create a new empty layer and work on it with the Healing Brush Tool, removing large defects on the skin, using the “Healing Brush” I remove the details of the bushes that have entered the frame to the left and right of the model. 
After thoroughly cleaning the skin, I merge the layers and make a copy of the topmost one to use the Frequency Decomposition method. I apply the Other - High Pass filter to the copied layer, adjusting the radius by moving the slider until colored outlines appear. In my case, the radius value is 4. I apply a filter, and set the layer to Linear Light blend mode. I press CTRL + create a new layer (button in the lower right corner). Move the cursor between layers 1 and 2 (empty) to the visible border and, holding ALT, press the left mouse button (hereinafter - LMB). The empty layer is linked to the High Pass layer. You must always work in an empty layer.
I select the Clone Stamp tool with a hardness of 0 and a transparency of 10–15 and be sure to change Sample (“Sample”) from Current Layer (active layer) to Current & Below (active and below).
I work with a stamp on an empty layer, selecting the required area (with clean skin) ALT + LMB and then clicking already where you want to retouch. For example, we carefully remove the “bruises”, replacing them with neighboring lighter samples.
I combine the retouched layers into a group and reduce the transparency from 40 to 70%. 
I merge the layers and move on to the second stage.
Portrait color correction
I try to analyze the photo and imagine what I want to achieve in the end. In this case - to convey the atmosphere of a cold environment and contrast with the model. Raise the contrast on the skin: Create a layer with curves. I select the "Hand" tool and put dots on the skin with
CTRL+Shift (puts dots on color channels) 
You need to put a dot in the shadows on the skin and in the light areas (but not overexposed).
Then I go to the “Curves” layer on the tab of each channel, click on each point and use the arrows on the keyboard to raise the light point and lower the dark one. I raise the contrast in the midtones: I create a Chanel mixer layer, in which the green is +100, the rest are 0. I put a tick
Monochrome and set the layer to Soft Light mode, lowering the transparency of this layer to 20%.
On the layer mask, I go over the eyes and lips with a black brush so that they do not go completely into the shadow.
After raising the contrast, the picture becomes deeper in color and pleasing to the eye. The next step is to correct the color balance. I create a new Color Balance layer and in it, focusing on the image in the shadows (Shadows), move the sliders to cyan and blue, and in the lights (Highlights) to red and yellow. 
I decided to remove the excessive saturation of blue and green colors a little, for which I create an adjustment layer Hue / Saturation (“Hue / Saturation”) and in the Greens tab (green) reduce the saturation and raise the luminosity, I did the same in the Blues and Cyans tab. After this correction, the image acquired the following form: 
The original image had a beautiful hair color, so I decided to bring it back: I create a Color Balance adjustment layer, making the adjustment as shown in the image below - rubbing the hair over a black mask. 
Using the adjustment layer Hue / Saturation (“Hue / Saturation”) I remove the saturation of the red color and slightly raise its luminosity. Next, I rub over the black mask with a white brush around the nose to remove redness.
The last touch remains - to show a little volume.
I create a new adjustment layer Chanel Mixer (“Mixing Channels”), check the Monochrome checkbox and transfer the layer to the blend mode Luminosity (“Brightness”). In the channel mixing window I move the red, green and blue sliders to the resulting value of 115%. Focus on the image itself. I lowered the opacity of this layer to 15%. 
This is what the final result looks like at the beginning of the article.