Here's a simple way to soften portraits:
1) Duplicate the background layer, then apply a blur over the entire photo. The amount of blur depends on the size (pixel-wise) of the image, but 4-5 is probably a good starting point.
2) Move the layer opacity to 50%.
3) Use the eraser tool with a soft brush to erase the layer where you want fine details, like the eyes, lips and teeth. Don't do it to the nostrils!
4) If you want to unsoften anything else (like the background), make the brush a lot bigger and brush off all the other stuff.
I rarely do this with portraits (I use it with other subjects though), I like the pores and blemishes.
At 11:58 AM 9/30/2003 -0400, Gregory Fraser wrote:
I shot my first non-family portrait session on the weekend. The model is a friend of mine and hopefully she'll still be a friend after I show her the prints. The session started off great. I entered her house and she told me to let her dog sniff me. Somehow I thought that meant let her sniff my hand like every one of the other million dogs I've met but no, this dog is a little different. Apparently she's offended by human hands and the little bitch clamped down on me then took off so fast I never saw it coming. Live and learn.
Anyway, the only lens I have greater than 50mm is a Tamron 80-200 zoom. I wasn't expecting much from it but it was the only thing I have close to a portrait lens. The worst part of the shots is not the poor lighting and its not the fact that in over half the shots at least one eye is closed and its not the fact that I know squat about directing models and my friend has never modeled before. The worst part is that damn Tamron lens is too sharp! I was worried it would be blurry but it shows every single pore on her face.
So now I'm wondering how to get rid of that in Photoshop. Do I select a large area of skin like an entire cheek and perform a gaussian blur? Should I work in small patches or as large as I can get? Is blurring not the way to go at all?
Greg Fraser
Jeff Spirer Photos: http://www.spirer.com One People: http://www.onepeople.com/ Surfaces and Marks: http://www.withoutgrass.com
