Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 3:04 am
As skin tones are a subject dear to my heart, I've spent a long time playing with the exercises. The pdf is brilliant - thanks for the resource. I've made an action out of the guidelines which I'd need to tweak for public use if any one is interested?
I couldn't seem to download ganna's baby image, but I've used one that I found on the internet quite a while ago. I use this image a lot to practise my skills and never end up at the same place.
Some random thoughts:
~ for the first time I saw the difference skipping the image from RGB (most familiar space but more random results) /LAB (better tan tones) /HS (better coverage).
~ the gradient gives great 'even skin tones', but would I want this on all images - I'd need to be careful of creative choices as people don't have perfectly even skin e.g. one of my practise shots has a classic Mongolian child with tanned forehead / burnt cheeks / baby skin on the chin.
Question: I use the 'colour by numbers' skin tone approach watching the hue clocks carefully. I've chosen to show the dials: display>other colour>working CYMK, as oppose to Mike's wgCYMK. It works for me, but it took me ages to decide which 'cymk' display to use. Any thoughts on this choice?
Workflow:
use the instructions in the pdf
experiment using the jpg 'skin tones' and creating my own from existing tones on the photo
final curve adjustment using the numbers (aim for C -24, M - 52, Y -60, K - 1) and adjust to suit the image.
apply a sepia filter for creative effect to warm up the overall image
The attachments are work in progress, it got to the point where I'd lost all sense of judgment and was creating the most unflattering tones imaginable!
thanks Mandy
I couldn't seem to download ganna's baby image, but I've used one that I found on the internet quite a while ago. I use this image a lot to practise my skills and never end up at the same place.
Some random thoughts:
~ for the first time I saw the difference skipping the image from RGB (most familiar space but more random results) /LAB (better tan tones) /HS (better coverage).
~ the gradient gives great 'even skin tones', but would I want this on all images - I'd need to be careful of creative choices as people don't have perfectly even skin e.g. one of my practise shots has a classic Mongolian child with tanned forehead / burnt cheeks / baby skin on the chin.
Question: I use the 'colour by numbers' skin tone approach watching the hue clocks carefully. I've chosen to show the dials: display>other colour>working CYMK, as oppose to Mike's wgCYMK. It works for me, but it took me ages to decide which 'cymk' display to use. Any thoughts on this choice?
Workflow:
use the instructions in the pdf
experiment using the jpg 'skin tones' and creating my own from existing tones on the photo
final curve adjustment using the numbers (aim for C -24, M - 52, Y -60, K - 1) and adjust to suit the image.
apply a sepia filter for creative effect to warm up the overall image
The attachments are work in progress, it got to the point where I'd lost all sense of judgment and was creating the most unflattering tones imaginable!
thanks Mandy