Photo retouching
As with any retouching piece your first step is to prep your canvas. Select the Spot Healing brush set to Content-Aware and start removing any small blemishes. Remember to be subtle though – this isn’t a beauty piece and skin texture adds character.
As with any retouching piece your first step is to prep your canvas. Select the Spot Healing brush set to Content-Aware and start removing any small blemishes. Remember to be subtle though – this isn’t a beauty piece and skin texture adds character.
High Pass filter
Create a copy of the background layer by pressing Cmd + J (Ctrl on a PC) and select the High Pass filter from Filter > Other > High Pass. Adjust the radius so that you’re just catching the hairs, eyelashes and edges (around 2px for this photo). Then set that layer to Overlay and add a black layer mask.
Create a copy of the background layer by pressing Cmd + J (Ctrl on a PC) and select the High Pass filter from Filter > Other > High Pass. Adjust the radius so that you’re just catching the hairs, eyelashes and edges (around 2px for this photo). Then set that layer to Overlay and add a black layer mask.
Selective sharpening
Tap ‘B’ to select the Brush Tool and set it to a soft round brush. Bring the opacity down to 50% by tapping ‘5’ and then select white as your foreground colour. Now start painting on the mask to reveal the overlay layer in places you want to sharpen, like the eyes, lips and anything else you want to highlight. A lower brush opacity is helpful here, allowing you to build up the effect slowly and giving you a more professional finish.
Tap ‘B’ to select the Brush Tool and set it to a soft round brush. Bring the opacity down to 50% by tapping ‘5’ and then select white as your foreground colour. Now start painting on the mask to reveal the overlay layer in places you want to sharpen, like the eyes, lips and anything else you want to highlight. A lower brush opacity is helpful here, allowing you to build up the effect slowly and giving you a more professional finish.
Adding depth and contrast
Now we have the basic edit we want to add some contrast. Go to Channels, select the blue layer, right click and select Duplicate Channel. You can add some basic contrast with Levels so hit Cmd/Ctrl + L and adjust for extra punch (you can use Curves or Exposure if you’d prefer). Select the adjusted layer with Cmd/Ctrl + A, copy it with Cmd/Ctrl + C and deselect with Cmd/Ctrl + D. Now hide the Blue Copy channel and paste the copied one onto the top of your layers stack. Set the layer to Overlay and
reduce the opacity to taste (around 40% works well here).
Now we have the basic edit we want to add some contrast. Go to Channels, select the blue layer, right click and select Duplicate Channel. You can add some basic contrast with Levels so hit Cmd/Ctrl + L and adjust for extra punch (you can use Curves or Exposure if you’d prefer). Select the adjusted layer with Cmd/Ctrl + A, copy it with Cmd/Ctrl + C and deselect with Cmd/Ctrl + D. Now hide the Blue Copy channel and paste the copied one onto the top of your layers stack. Set the layer to Overlay and
reduce the opacity to taste (around 40% works well here).
Colour correction
Next add a Selective Colour adjustment layer for colour correction (you can use Hue/Saturation or even Curves for this). Adjust the parameters on the Neutral and Blacks channels to add a slightly colder feel to the image. Remember to be subtle with this filter, as adjustments more than 10% can be too much. Tip: Boosting the Cyan and Magenta in the blacks makes for a deeper and richer black.
Next add a Selective Colour adjustment layer for colour correction (you can use Hue/Saturation or even Curves for this). Adjust the parameters on the Neutral and Blacks channels to add a slightly colder feel to the image. Remember to be subtle with this filter, as adjustments more than 10% can be too much. Tip: Boosting the Cyan and Magenta in the blacks makes for a deeper and richer black.
Painting shadows and highlights
Now for the classic Dodge and Burn stage. Add a new overlay layer by pressing Shift + Cmd/Ctrl + N and selecting Overlay from the Mode drop-down menu. Tick the Fill with 50% Grey box. Now select the Burn Tool and set the range to Shadows and the opacity to 10%. Start painting over the shadow areas to add some depth, and slowly build up the effect. Do thesame with the Dodge Tool, setting Highlights in the range. Concentrate on sharp highlights and use this to lighten the whites of the eyes a little.
Now for the classic Dodge and Burn stage. Add a new overlay layer by pressing Shift + Cmd/Ctrl + N and selecting Overlay from the Mode drop-down menu. Tick the Fill with 50% Grey box. Now select the Burn Tool and set the range to Shadows and the opacity to 10%. Start painting over the shadow areas to add some depth, and slowly build up the effect. Do thesame with the Dodge Tool, setting Highlights in the range. Concentrate on sharp highlights and use this to lighten the whites of the eyes a little.
Adding the light bulb
Okay, that’s the main retouching done, so hit Shift + Option + Cmd/Ctrl + E to copy all visible layers to a new layer. Now for the fun bit! Open the file Lightbulb2. jpeg and roughly cut out the light bulb and grapefruit with the Lasso Tool. Copy and paste it into your image and transform it (Cmd/Ctrl + T) to a more realistic scale. To constrain the proportions, remember to hold down the Shift key.
Okay, that’s the main retouching done, so hit Shift + Option + Cmd/Ctrl + E to copy all visible layers to a new layer. Now for the fun bit! Open the file Lightbulb2. jpeg and roughly cut out the light bulb and grapefruit with the Lasso Tool. Copy and paste it into your image and transform it (Cmd/Ctrl + T) to a more realistic scale. To constrain the proportions, remember to hold down the Shift key.
Adjusting sharpness and contrast
To blend this image with the model we need to do a few things here, starting with sharpening it. Go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask and play with the settings until you achieve slightly sharper reflections. Next, boost the contrast a little by adding a subtle S-curve with a Curves adjustment layer, making sure this is clipped to the light bulb layer (you can do this by holding down Option/Alt and clicking between the two layers.)
To blend this image with the model we need to do a few things here, starting with sharpening it. Go to Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask and play with the settings until you achieve slightly sharper reflections. Next, boost the contrast a little by adding a subtle S-curve with a Curves adjustment layer, making sure this is clipped to the light bulb layer (you can do this by holding down Option/Alt and clicking between the two layers.)
Colour matching & layer masking
Next add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to bring down the saturation that the curves added,
and adjust the hue in the master and yellow channel, aiming to get as close to a natural skin tone as possible. Once it is matched, add a layer mask to the light bulb layer and paint in black with a soft brush to mask out the grapefruit, leaving just the bulb and split skin effect.
Next add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to bring down the saturation that the curves added,
and adjust the hue in the master and yellow channel, aiming to get as close to a natural skin tone as possible. Once it is matched, add a layer mask to the light bulb layer and paint in black with a soft brush to mask out the grapefruit, leaving just the bulb and split skin effect.
Adding skin texture
Now we want to turn the grapefruit texture into skin texture. Select your Lasso Tool and draw a selection from a clear area on the forehead. Hit Cmd/Ctrl + J to copy that selection to a new layer, then Cmd/Ctrl + T to transform it to cover a section of the grapefruit. Add a layer mask, invert it to hide the skin and use a soft, low opacity Brush Tool loaded with white to reveal the skin.
Now we want to turn the grapefruit texture into skin texture. Select your Lasso Tool and draw a selection from a clear area on the forehead. Hit Cmd/Ctrl + J to copy that selection to a new layer, then Cmd/Ctrl + T to transform it to cover a section of the grapefruit. Add a layer mask, invert it to hide the skin and use a soft, low opacity Brush Tool loaded with white to reveal the skin.
Stacking layers for texture
Repeat Step 10 until you have covered all sections of grapefruit with skin tones; it may take a few attempts and a mixture of layers to find a skin tone that works. Also apply this step to cover any creases on the forehead that clash with the grapefruit layer. For a smoother blend, reduce the opacity of some of the layers.
Repeat Step 10 until you have covered all sections of grapefruit with skin tones; it may take a few attempts and a mixture of layers to find a skin tone that works. Also apply this step to cover any creases on the forehead that clash with the grapefruit layer. For a smoother blend, reduce the opacity of some of the layers.
Painting in shadows
We are almost there, but to really sell it we need to add some shadows as if the bulb itself is creating the light. Add a new layer below the bulb layer, set the blend mode to Multiply and select a soft round brush with 10% opacity. Hold down Option/Alt to sample a dark shadow from somewhere on the face and start painting in shadows on the left side of the grapefruit.
We are almost there, but to really sell it we need to add some shadows as if the bulb itself is creating the light. Add a new layer below the bulb layer, set the blend mode to Multiply and select a soft round brush with 10% opacity. Hold down Option/Alt to sample a dark shadow from somewhere on the face and start painting in shadows on the left side of the grapefruit.
Using Warp Transform
Open the file BloodDripStock.jpeg, paste the drip into your main image and then use a layer mask to refine the edges. To help it sit more naturally on the forehead, go to Edit > Transform > Warp and bend the drip into more of a rounded shape. As you did in Step 12, add shadows to help it sit nicely in place.
Open the file BloodDripStock.jpeg, paste the drip into your main image and then use a layer mask to refine the edges. To help it sit more naturally on the forehead, go to Edit > Transform > Warp and bend the drip into more of a rounded shape. As you did in Step 12, add shadows to help it sit nicely in place.
Let there be light
Now let’s add some glow to the bulb. Open the file LightbulbGlow.jpeg, select and copy the centre filament of the bulb and paste it into your main image. Press Cmd/Ctrl + T to resize it and place it in the middle of your bulb. Then set the blend mode to Screen and use a layer mask to blend out the edges. Finally, add a new layer and, with the blending mode set to Overlay, select a soft round brush. Hold down Option/Alt to sample a bright yellow colour from the glow of the bulb and paint with a low opacity over both the bulb and right side of the face. You should now have your glow.
Now let’s add some glow to the bulb. Open the file LightbulbGlow.jpeg, select and copy the centre filament of the bulb and paste it into your main image. Press Cmd/Ctrl + T to resize it and place it in the middle of your bulb. Then set the blend mode to Screen and use a layer mask to blend out the edges. Finally, add a new layer and, with the blending mode set to Overlay, select a soft round brush. Hold down Option/Alt to sample a bright yellow colour from the glow of the bulb and paint with a low opacity over both the bulb and right side of the face. You should now have your glow.
Final touches
I never feel an image is finished until I’ve done a final colour correction over the whole image, ensuring all the elements are working together. This can be done with a simple Photo Filter adjustment layer or a more intricate Gradient Colour adjustment. Once you’ve done your colour correction, add a final Dodge & Burn layer to add a last dash of pop to the bulb.
I never feel an image is finished until I’ve done a final colour correction over the whole image, ensuring all the elements are working together. This can be done with a simple Photo Filter adjustment layer or a more intricate Gradient Colour adjustment. Once you’ve done your colour correction, add a final Dodge & Burn layer to add a last dash of pop to the bulb.
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