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Saturday 8 June 2013

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Posted in Arrangement, Art, Business

Retouch images with frequency separation

Retouch images with frequency separation

Ben Secret explains how to achieve smooth yet sharp images, without losing realism

One of the black arts of photographic retouching is how to achieve the impossibly smooth, yet sharply rendered skin, textures and fabrics seen in fashion and beauty images. Photoshop has its own high quality smoothing and sharpening filters, but the two processes tend to be somewhat contradictory.
In this tutorial I’ll walk you through how I retouch an image from start to finish, using a technique that enables you to selectively process not only different areas of an image, but also different detail levels. Frequency separation involves creating a high detail (high spatial frequency) layer and a low detail layer from a source image – a particularly clever method of doing this was popularised by Sean Baker, a Maryland-based photographer and retoucher. Using this technique enables you to smooth and rework rough and fine details independently, and opens up some very high-quality and non-destructive methods with which to sharpen your images.
16 bit mode
01 In Photoshop, the first step is to ensure you’re in 16-bit mode and, using your own photo, create two duplicate layers of your source image. Name the middle layer ‘low frequency’ and the top ‘high frequency’. The bottom is your untouched image, which you may want to reference later.
blur low frequency
02 Select the low frequency layer. To create your frequency separated image, you need to remove all the detail from this layer. Select Gaussian Blur. The Radius setting determines the crossover point between your high and low detail layers. This should be the point at which very fine details like skin pores and eyelashes blur. Experiment until you’re happy.
liner dodge add
03 Now select the high frequency layer, and go to Image>Apply Image. For Layer, select Low frequency from the drop-down menu, and for Blending, select Add (not Linear Dodge Add). Set Scale to 2, Offset to 0, tick the Invert box and hit OK. All being well, you should now have a faint, fine detail layer. Change the Blending Mode to Linear Light.

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surface blur
04 Your original image is now reconstructed with no loss in quality. Select the low frequency layer and apply a surface blur (Filter>Blur). You want enough surface blur to smooth out any inconsistencies in skin tone, without smudging highlights and shadows. I’m using Radius: 11, and Threshold: 10.
Smooth high frequency layer
05 With your high frequency layer neatly separated, smoothing and painting on your image becomes much less destructive. The light here has cast some hard shadows on the girl’s face. Staying on the low frequency layer, use the Eye Dropper and a soft paint brush with Flow set to 1% to smooth the contours of the face.
spot healing brush
06 Select the high frequency layer and clean up any blemishes, wrinkles and stray hairs. One of my favourite tools is the Spot Healing Brush. Without the low frequencies, this tool becomes even more effective, enabling you to zap unwanted details without then creating patchy colour inconsistencies.
sharpen, high frequency
07 This technique also enables you to apply some very high quality sharpening effects. Duplicate the high frequency layer, add a mask to the new layer, copy and paste the high frequency image into its own mask (Alt/Opt+click the Mask window in the Layers palette), and invert it (Ctrl/Cmd+I).
dodge and burn overlay
08 Next create a Dodge and Burn layer to bring out highlights and shadows where you want them. Go to Layer>New> Layer, set the Mode to Overlay, and tick ‘Fill with Overlay-neutral color (50% gray)’. Paint on this layer with a soft black or white brush set to 1% Flow. (The image here demonstrates how this layer looks with the Blending Mode set to Normal.)
dodge burn background light
09 Dodge and Burn can be used with large brushes to create dramatic highlights and shadows. I created another Dodge and Burn layer for the background, and added some light to the image elements I wanted to bring out, such as the cupcakes. I also created a little more glow from the light, and darkened the shadows around the model.
curves adjustment layer
10 After painting, dodging and burning the skin, it’s not unusual to find small patchy areas and inconsistencies in your brush work. To check for this, create a Curves adjustment layer with a very exaggerated S-curve: small tonal inconsistencies will be blown up for easier correction.
blue shadows
11 Make your exaggerated curves layer invisible and create another Curves adjustment layer to pull the shadows down a bit. Go to the Blue Channel and add some blue in the shadows. When I’m happy with the outcome, I duplicate this layer so I can mix it in further, without having to change anything.
colour correction
12 Now create another Curves adjustment layer to tweak the colour. For images that need heavy colour correction, this would be one of the first steps in the retouching process. However, here it’s more for a creative effect. Select the Blue Channel and rotate the gradient clockwise by about 10 degrees.
hue saturation gradient
13 Next add a Hue/Saturation layer and a Brightness/Contrast layer, just to balance the image at this stage. Take the Saturation down to -27. When desaturating an image, I set the Blending Mode of the Adjustment layer to Color so that I don’t lose any contrast.
shine specularity highlight
14 To add shine and specularity to the highlights, create a new layer and, with white selected as your foreground colour, go to Select>Color Range. Take the Fuzziness up to a point where you can see only the brightest highlights, hit OK, and then fill the selected area with white.
grain soft blur
15 For this image I wanted a softer, dream-like quality. The white areas you just filled might be quite grainy, so with this layer selected, add a Gaussian Blur with a Radius of about 5 pixels. This will smooth the white highlights on the skin and add a subtle glow.
deepen darker to enhance foreground
16 I also wanted to add some depth to the darker areas of the image, to make sure the focus is on the model and the cupcakes. To do this, simply do the same thing again on a new layer, this time with black selected as your foreground colour, and fill the area in black. Mix this in at a low Opacity, somewhere around 10-20%.
clone stamp
17 Take a look at the image now: one thing dragging the eye away from the model’s face and towards the centre is the dark cupcake on the sink. To correct this, I created a new layer, set the Clone Stamp tool to Sample: All Layers in the Tool Options bar, and replaced the dark cupcake with the yellow one next to it.
liquify flattern
18 When retouching, some creatives like to liquify an image as the first step but I prefer to leave it until last as this is more of a destructive edit. I’ll usually save the image as a Photoshop file, then flatten it for this step. Here I made the nose straighter and reduced the stretch from the earring on the earlobe.
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How to Digitally Add Shallow Depth of Field

One of the easiest and most common techniques that photographers use to make their photos look more interesting and professional is to use a shallow depth of field. Depth of field refers to the distance between the nearest and farthest parts of an image that appear sharp or in focus. When a photo has a shallow depth of field, only a small portion is in focus, while the rest is blurry.

It may seem a bit counter-intuitive that photographers purposefully create mostly-blurred photographs; however the shallow depth of field effect is actually closer to the way we see with our eyes. As you look at this page, for example, only the text is in focus, while everything else in your vision blurry.
Taking photographs that have shallow depth of field usually requires a nice lens, or at least, an expensive camera. However, it is possible to digitally simulate shallow depth of field using Adobe Photoshop.
This tutorial will show you how to add visual interest to your photographs by creating a shallow depth of field effect using 3 different techniques: the Iris Blur tool, the Lens Blur Filter & Depth Maps, and Photoshop Plugins.

Method 1: Iris Blur

The Iris Blur tool is the quickest way to give your photographs the appearance of shallow depth of field. This technique does not offer as much customization as the other two methods; however, it does a pretty good job, and it only takes about 2 minutes.
Step 1: Right-click the layer “Background” in the Layer’s box. Select “Duplicate Layer” and name the new layer “Blur Effect.”

Step 2: Select Filter > Blur > Iris Blur   This will open the Blur Gallery tool with the Iris Blur tool selected and a default Iris Blur will be placed on your image. Move the circle in the center to the part of your image that you want to stay sharp. For my photo, I wanted the young woman and the edge of the cliff to remain in focus.

Step 3: Click and drag the outer edge of the selection to change the size of the blur. Click outside of the selection and drag diagonally to rotate the selection. Everything outside of the selection is called the “Blur Area,” since this part of the image will receive the full intensity of the blur effect. If you want more of your photo to be intensely blurred, make the selection smaller and the area outside of the selection bigger. Make the selection touch the edges of your image, leaving only the corners outside of the selection, for a gradual, more subtle effect.

Step 4: Move the little white square in the upper-right to make the selection more rectangular or elliptical. I chose to keep the selection elliptical so that the corners would be more intensely blurred.


Step 5: Adjust the handles that look like little white circles to frame which part of the photo you want to stay sharp. The area between these handles and the selection is called the “Fade Area.” In the Fade Area, the photo will gradually change from sharp to blurry. The area within the handles is the “Sharp Area,” and will remain in full focus. The smaller you make this area, the shallower the depth of field will appear.

Step 6: Adjust the intensity of the blur. You can do this either by clicking inside of the thin circle in the center and dragging clock-wise, or you can use the “Blur” slider on the right. If you want to achieve a macro, or extreme “close-up” effect, you can apply a more generous blur (34 px +), but for most other types of photographs, a subtle blur of 15 px or less will look more authentic.
 
Step 7: If you want to brighten the “Blur Area” of the picture, head over to the Blur Effects box and adjust the “Light Bokeh” slider. This tool is especially useful for photographs taken at night or indoors. Adjust the “Bokeh Color” slider to increase the vividness of the colors in the lightened areas. Adjust the Light Range sliders to select the range of tones Blur Effects settings will affect. I chose to leave the Blur Effects settings at zero for this particular photo.

Step 8: Click the box at the top next to “High Quality” so that Photoshop will render a full-quality blur. You can click anywhere else on the image if you would like to create additional Iris Blur filters. Once you are happy with your settings, click OK.

Voila! Instant shallow depth of field!

After

Method 2: Lens Blur Filter & Depth Map

Creating a depth map to use with the Lens Blur Filter is a bit more complicated; however, it will allow you to apply different amounts of blur to different parts of the photo, which in the end looks much more realistic.
Step 1: Create a new layer (Ctrl+Shift+N) and name it “Gradient.” Set the Opacity to 50%. Press G to activate the Gradient Tool. If the Paint Bucket Tool is selected instead, right-click the Paint Bucket Tool icon and select Gradient Tool. Make the foreground color Black and the background color White.
New Layer   Gradient Tool
Step 2: Starting on the edge of the part of the photo that you want to stay in focus, click while holding Shift (to make a straight line) and drag across the image toward the area that you want to blur. Keep in mind that areas that are black will be 100% transparent (i.e. they will not receive a Lens Blur effect); areas that are white will be 100% visible (i.e. they will receive a Lens Blur Effect); and areas of grey that are lighter will be more visible while areas that are darker grey will be more transparent.
For my photo, I chose the “Reflected Gradient” option at the top of the screen, and I clicked-and-dragged across the middle of the photo (from top-to-bottom) to keep the middle Black and to make the photo fade to white toward the edges. The whiter areas of the photo will receive a more intense blur, while the blacker areas will receive a weaker blur. When you are finished, change the Opacity of the layer to 100% and select the small eye icon to temporarily hide the layer.
Reflected Gradient Option
Gradient Half Opacity


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Photoshop: Lomograph. How to Make a PHOTO look Vintage & Retro

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/69aVpRcFOfE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Photoshop tutorial showing how to transform an image into looking like a vintage, retro, analog-type lomograph. Paper TEXTURE: http://db.tt/SWs3Bc5K
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Tilt Shift Photoshop Tutorial: How to Make Fake Miniature Scenes

tilt-shift-photoshop
I discovered the Tilt Shift technique perusing the photography of Drew Wilson, an uber talented young photographer here in Sarasota. I asked him about the process and he was kind enough to share it with me.
Lil raft

Tilt shift lenses focus on a single part of the photo and shift (blur) the surrounding area to create an optical illusion of miniaturized scenery. Real tilt shift lenses are quite expensive, but a similar effect can be achieved by using Photoshop after you take the photo.
Tilt shift photographs create an optical illusion that makes scenes appear as if they are actually miniature models (like your uncle’s train set). The outer edges are blurred which tricks the eye into perceiving everything in the unblurred parts as miniature.  It’s a fun post processing trick – and it’s quite easy to reproduce.
UPDATE:  Many of you have asked if there is a plug in or Tilt Shift software that will do this.  The closest I’ve found so far is:  FocalPoint 2  You can try it out for free.
Here is my (and Drew’s) Photoshop tutorial for creating fake tilt shift photos.
  1. Taking the photo. An above ground shot is usually best for this type of technique. Cityscapes, crowds, streets, and similar things are perfect.
  2. Open the shot in Adobe Photoshop and click onto “quick mask mode”.
    Quick mask mode
  3. Select the gradient tool.
  4. Select the “cylindrical gradient reflected gradient”.
    reflected gradient
  5. Draw vertically upwards from where you want the point of focus to be up the screen to the top of the window, and release the mouse button. A red transparent line should appear.
    Masked tilt shift gradient
  6. Go back into “Standard Mask Mode”.
    Standard mask mode
  7. In Photoshop CS2 or CS3 go to Filter > Blur > Lens Blur (Or if you have Photoshop 7.0 you can use Gaussian Blur). Then select the amount of blur you’d like. You can experiment with the radius value a bit to see what amount of blur looks best.
  8. (Optional) For a more “plastic” feel you can increase the saturation and contrast in the photo.
There you have it – you should have a nice “fake tilt shift” photo. You can experiment with lots of different photographs – some are a lot better than others for “miniaturization”.
And when you’re ready to step it up even more,  you can incorporate HDR Photography and Tilt Shift together for amazingly stunning fake miniature scenes in high contrast.  Using the above technique along with HDR software, such as top brand Photomatix (we have a 15% Off Coupon code),  you can achieve results like this:
Miniature House (Tilt Shift HDR)
photo credit: Brandon Godfrey
Below are a few more examples of the tilt shift technique for producing realistic looking miniature scenes. Feel free to link to your own tilt shift photos in the comments. Happy shrinking!
Tiny Gator Fans
My Lil Black G35
Miniature Siesta Key
Ferrari Enzo in Sarasota
Plastic ball
lil miami at nite

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