It’s been a while since I last posted – there’s been a bit of drama (and a good outcome)

My apologies about the silence recently. My pc has been in bits recently – I was waiting on my new desk – which didn’t arrive for about 2 months. There was some hiccups at the factory, but now it’s here and it’s great.

It also means I now have more room, and my scanner, tower, and printer are all up off the floor. It’s also a standing desk, so it should help my back. Just have to get the fancy chair now to go with it.

This beautiful image comes courteously of Andrey Mashkov – who goes by the username of PORFOMUA on Model Mayhem. Andrey can also be reached at mashkov7d@gmail.com.

I’m not going to lie, it took a fair while. There was a bit of a learning curve. I am still learning clipping paths, and fixing up some sections of that hair was a pain in the backside. There is still more I could do on that hair, but I didn’t want to go too far. I’d already spent enough time as it is.

I am, still, trying to figure out colour. I have tinkered a bit more this time – but I think that maybe the arm may be slightly green? It’s hard to tell (for me). It was a lot more magenta before, so I clipped it, and knocked it down in selective colour by about -2 or so? I also tried super hard not to lose any of that beautiful texture in her skin – choosing to dodge and burn only.

This time I was also more adventurous with the global dodging and burning, and I tried to draw more attention to her features. I also had to figure out – using a photo of magnolia leaves – how to darken the foliage in her flower crown (they were just far too bright and pastel for my liking)!

In the colouring side of things I used a dark purple tone, very lightly, in the shadows to compliment all the warm brown tones of the overall image. I also increased the contrast somewhat for more… drama? However – it seems to look a lot better in Photoshop and in my image viewer than when it’s uploaded to the web – it’s like the colours shifted, even though I took care to ensure that I was working in an sRGB workspace? Do you, reader, have any tips on how to prevent this?

If you have any suggestions on how I may improve from this image forward, please don’t be shy – comment below. I’d love to hear from you regarding this image.

Aside from this image: I have recently discovered Jonny Seymour Retoucher Education on Youtube. He rocks and awesome mullet, and his videos are really easy to understand. I’ve been watching and rewatching them before work, and when The Block is on (so. much. drama. ugh).

I really suggest you check him out. Hopefully he posts more soon!

I have also been listening to the PRO EDU Photography Podcast, as well as Daniel Hager’s podcast: Lets Talk Retouching with Boutique Retouching. Both are available on spotify, and I listen to them when I’m working (and wandering around the house). I really should actually sit down and take notes while I listen, heh!

Also: randomly: my helper (and desk inspector) says hi:

Her name is Gidget, and boy is she demanding of my time and attention!

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for sticking around! I hope you’re having a great day, and please don’t forget to comment below. I really want to hear your input.

Cheers,
Katy