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. 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. 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. 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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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. 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. 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. 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). 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.) 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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%. 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. 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.
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 PhotoshopPlugins.
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!
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. 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.
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.
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 2You can try it out for free.
Here is my (and Drew’s) Photoshop tutorial for creating fake tilt shift photos.
Taking the photo. An above ground shot is usually best for this type
of technique. Cityscapes, crowds, streets, and similar things are
perfect.
Open the shot in Adobe Photoshop and click onto “quick mask mode”.
Select the gradient tool.
Select the “cylindrical gradient reflected gradient”.
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.
Go back into “Standard Mask Mode”.
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.
(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: 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!