Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Look Here to see how you can successfully kill the character with a state-of-the-art tool

Please discuss

Wow that is crazy! A crazy good deal for a limited time. Group buy? I wonder if there is a plugin for "fire eyes" in CS5

I find some are just way over done and the skin is like plastic. Some may like the look and I'm guilty of over doing skin in the past. Small blemishes and heavy bags under the eyes, sure but this is pretty radical. If I'm doing a TFP shoot, I usually ask for unedited front, side and face pics without makeup to avoid any "surprises" when the model shows up. This is where a great makeup artist comes in handy.

so how do you feel about these examples showing removal of the original skin features, like freckles?

and let's skip the commercial side

If it could change round freckles to hexagon shaped ones I'd buy it for sure.

Pretty women to pretty dolls...
blech. No thanks.

I think this particular tool is over the top (or at least the examples are over the top).

People who want "glamour shots" usually want them for a reason - because they want to "look good" in the photo. Character be damned - how many photographers here LOVE to have their photo taken? I know a handful.. seriously - every single other one says they don't take a good photo or they look awful in photos - why? is it because THEY don't like the way THEY look? Wouldn't THEY want to look their best?

There's a "happy medium" between total image manipulation and "softening some skin blemishes" - and it's a matter of finding that particular happy medium that will make clients happy while still ensuring their "character" comes through.

Cheers,
Dave

I like star shaped freckles.

Especially since I love freckles, and playing connect the dots!

I like heart-shaped freckles Anyway, depending on what the shoot is for, if it's for glamour I'll use it to its full effect. Otherwise, I'll tone down the effect slightly. If the wrinkles or blemishes add to the overall picture, I'll leave it alone then.

Just a note: You guys do realize you can dial in the amount of correction you apply? It's not PS, but it also is a lot quicker

I found this out while playing with it a while back; each "feature" can be toggled and rate is changeable. I found this when i was using images that weren't frontal shots the lips and eyes would get all weird cause it would try to make my son "perfect" :S

removing great freckles is a downright shame.

Depends on what it is for. If the customer wants em gone who am I to argue? But For me the examples there go wayy too far. The skin looks like plastic.

But this is a tool and even the people in the company think the default settings go too far.

I like that pic with the freckes RHommel btw

Removing freckles is a crime & we need to boycott them! Nuf said.

It's funny how some people love freckles (like me) and some hate them (like my wife) .. it's kinda like the PC vs MAC debate.

that debate is making into every thread

That's exactly why I added a line asking to not involve commercial photography in this discussion

I wonder if she has any, because people tend to dislike things they have and look at the other side where it's greener

No, on the contrary, I want a discussion on this matter without involving "client pays - me deliver what client wants"

isn't that what's really important.. what your client wants?

if all you think about is commercial photography. I mentioned I didn't want to touch that side of photography a couple of times. It's pretty straightforward.

You got to know you can't control the direction of a conversation on here

It doesn't matter anymore, I see this is a lost cause

This could be a lost cause if it doesn't have freckles!

This could be a lost cause if it doesn't have freckles!

I perfectly understand where you're going with this. It's not just about reducing the amount of freckles, a little mole or other minor imperfections. This type of retouching is altering completely their faces, their anatomy... in some cases they're not even resemble the original anymore, so of course it kills the character. You'd never do this with your personal shots. But again, if life would be like this, you'd never see Vogue magazines.

Green freckles? Eeew! I don't have any yet I don't want'em. I'm confused.

I find it limiting to comment on this program without referring to it's commercial application because I think that was what it was intended for.

If overused it creates an unnatural overly idealized plastic scary look that reminds me of the creepy photos you see of young child "beauty" queens like JonBen

I think the point ultimately remains the same regardless if it's for "professionals" or not. Just because a client pays doesn't make it good, artistic or worthwhile. And that's without me saying that if a photographer doesn't care what his photos look like as long as the client pays then they're motives blow and their work most probably isn't worth look at anyway. Such photographers certainly don't have my interest. The software is gross and has all sorts of nasty implications regarding our perception of beauty and ourselves. But hey, as long as someone is paying it doesn't matter what we look like inside or out right?

I applied this technique to a portrait of me at the beach from last year.

You can always blend Portrait professional with HDR

http://thewondrous.com/24-funniest-hdr-face-portraits/

Oh my... did you had to do it?
I've just had breakfast... ;(


People like various things, but some people can afford to spend money on the the things they like.
That does not mean that good taste comes automatically with the financial wealth.
The omnipresence of kitsch is sad and vivid testament to that.

Quite often, good art (and photography is certainly not an exception) requires viewer's engagement and understanding.
At the same time, ability to fully appreciate art comes from own emotional and intellectual growth.


Unrealistic forms, textures and skin colour can look absolutely horrid, or plain cheap, which is what those examples in Portrait professional advertisement looked like to me.
However, I can see these images appealing to many, who rarely had a better picture of themselves then a mug shot with a full flash, done by cheap p&s camera.


There is an another side to it as well.
For example, take a look at these collage works of Katya Belkina

(Warning - 18+)

http://katerinabelkina.deviantart.com/

While not everyone likes what she does, the amount of work and attention that goes into post processing of each images is quite obvious.