#Lightroom 4 portrait retouching free

This sharpens the entire picture, but we only want it to affect Lewis and the table and chair (not the background) because the sharpest area is what the viewer is drawn to. Click to access the Detail panel and in the Sharpening section, drag the Amount slider to around 40, which is what I tend to use for male portraits (Figure 6.5).ĥ.

We’ll add sharpening to the portrait in specific areas later on to create a particular effect, but I almost always add some sharpening when I’m in Camera RAW or Lightroom, so we’ll do that now. Then drag the Blacks slider to around +15 to bring in even more detail in the dark areas (Figure 6.4).Ĥ. This increases the highlight areas a bit more than I’d like, so drag the Highlights slider to around −50. Having done that, I think the image actually needs a little more light overall, so take the Exposure slider to around +0.50, which seems to be enough to me. I want to see more detail in the shadow areas, so in the Basic panel, move the Shadows slider to the right all the way to +100. I just don’t choose to work this way, which again reinforces what I said at the beginning of this book: there’s no right or wrong way to do something there are just good and bad results.ģ. The reason I mention this is because the Camera RAW interface, and indeed Lightroom, is arranged in such a way that you could start at the top of a panel and work your way down through the adjustments in order. Then I stop, look at the image again, and then do whatever it is I’m drawn to next. I tend to look at the image I have in front of me and whatever jumps out at me is what I do first. Sure, there’s always certain things I do, but when I actually do them depends on the image. NOTE One thing I get asked quite often is whether I have a set pattern of steps that I follow each and every time I retouch a portrait. When I did this I clicked just to the side of Lewis’s (the model’s) head (Figure 6.3). Select the White Balance Tool (Figure 6.2) and click on the gray background. Let’s start off by correcting the white balance in the picture. Because this is a RAW file it will open in Camera RAW (Figure 6.1).Ģ. Starting in Photoshop, go to File > Open and navigate to the 06_raf.dng file. Right, enough of my ramblings, let’s get to work…ĭownload all the files you need to follow along step-by-step here.ġ. I honestly believe having personal projects has helped me develop my photography and post-production/retouching skills by keeping me excited and always looking to learn more. If you’re interested in seeing the behind the scenes documentation showing how I did this portrait there’s a post on my website at the following URL: While we’re on the subject of personal projects, I haven’t mentioned them yet, but they’re something I highly recommend you do. We’ll be working on a photograph of a Royal Air Force Pilot from my on-going 1940s World War 2–themed project. From there we’ll take our image file into Photoshop.

#Lightroom 4 portrait retouching free

We’re going to start in Camera RAW with the RAW file, but if you use Lightroom feel free to start there because the workflow will be pretty much identical. Knowing a number of different techniques means that if one doesn’t work well, you can find another in your Photoshop Toolbox that does. I mentioned in the beginning of this book that I highly recommend you learn a number of techniques that will give you the same or very similar results because there isn’t one technique that will work well on every picture. In this chapter we’re going to step things up and go through a complete portrait retouch from start to finish so that we can see how techniques work together to produce a final print-ready picture. This excerpt is from the book The Photoshop Toolbox by Glyn Dewis. Ordering, Shipping & Returns Information.