Natalia_Taffarel wrote:
So we are supposed to guess?

Ask the retoucher
Show us the original

I love MM forums! never a shortage of Concise answers. :-)

Mike Needham Retouching wrote:
Looks to me like d&b, if a bandstop has been used then it's subtle and certainly not abused. Next!

Pardon my ignorance, What's a Bandstop?

paulcobophotography wrote:

Pardon my ignorance, What's a Bandstop?

it's an inverted high pass thingy

Peano wrote:
I'd say it's just plain old attention to detail via D&B, healing, etc.

Put the edited image above the original. Change blend mode of the edited layer to Difference. Put a curves layer above that, change blend mode to screen, and push the curve up a little.



This will bring out the differences very plainly. You can see the dozens and dozens of little blemishes that have been fixed via D&B, heal, etc.

Thanks for this tip! I will try it.

Human Canoe wrote:
So the technique is this,
1. Duplicate your Original layer:

2. Then create a new layer

3. Select the new layer, Then heal and correct any blemishes that you want to fix  be sure your tools are set to sample all layers.

4.Then merge the layers to new layer  (Command+Shift+option+E on a Mac)

5. Duplicate the new "Fixed" layer 3 times

6. Rename them top to bottom like this:

Pass
Texture
Color

7. Now Turn off the visibility on the Pass and texture layer.

8. Select the Color layer and Surface blur it so that the edges are still maintained but the texture is all gone.

9. Now select and activate the visibility of the texture layer and then turn the blending mode to linear light.

10. Then go to "Apply Image" and select the following settings

Layer: Color
blending: Subtract
opacity:100
Scale: 2
Offset: 128

11. Now you should see the image exactly as it was but it has its frequency separation.

12. Now turn off the "Texture" layers visibility.

13. Then select the"Pass" Layer and set the blending mode to linear light as well.

14. Now go to your High pass filter and select the setting that gives you the slight vision of skin texture.

15. Put a layer mask on the Texture layer and an inverted layer mask on the Pass layer.

16. Now using the brush tool, on 30 percent or so, mask out the skin texture to your preference where it needs softening.

17. Now invert the brush color and set it to 16 percent or so and paint in the improved texture where needed on the layer mask of the Pass layer mask.

Hope this helps get you in the right direction!!! Play with all of the settings aside from the image apply ones. Eventually you will develop an eye for it and the process will fly by.

Thanks for these detailed steps.  Since I already use Frequency Separation , I think I should be able to follow all your steps. 
Thanks!

BSL Images wrote:
I was taught that the Blending Mode should be ADD, not Subtract.

Those Apply Image settings would be for an 8bit image.

BSL Images wrote:
Yes, I was talking about a 16bit image.

That's right. When working in 16bpc, you're blend mode should be ADD while 8bcp images should be set to SUBTRACT.

BSL Images wrote:
I was taught that the Blending Mode should be ADD, not Subtract.

add is 16 bit subtract is for 8 bit neither one is wrong it just different for different file.

BERMUDEZ STUDIO wrote:
Nice image Paul

Wonder if you would try emailing the retoucher for deets and get back to us?

I'd prob get mad as a retoucher tho, depends on how one asks and me mood =P

I don't know the retoucher that well.  I am very happy with the work she did, but I rather not ask her to breakdown her retouching skills.  This form here is open to all the retouchers that want to offer info and so I find it more appropriate to as everyone here.

Giacomo Cirrincioni wrote:
Here's my solution.

1.  Shoot the photos

2.  Hire a good retoucher and send the file

3.  Spend time on marketing and development

4.  Shoot some more

5.  Have a nice dinner and a couple of cocktails

6.  Get back a perfectly retouched file.

Ok, I tease, but if you like the results, and if you like working with the retoucher - keep it up!  I use photoshop for lots of things.  I even get paid to do it.  But beauty retouching, real beauty retouching, is a specialty.  It is equal parts art and science and, while the basics can be learned quickly, mastery of these skills can take a very long time. 

Strong work is done by strong teams.

EXACTLY!

Plus, a retoucher's job is to do retouching, not to give a free lessons to photography or retouching enthusiasts.

However - and I could never stress this enough! - MM (wannabe) retouchers should consider themselves the luckiest people in the world because we have TWO AMAZING PEOPLE, Natalia Taffarel and Krunslav Štifter, who were brave and NO vain enough to share their very excessive knowledge with us, through their DVDs.   

"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest" - once said Benjamin Franklin, so be smart enough and if you already invested $$$ money in your gear than invest some $ money in your knowledge as well.

Beauty & Hair Retouching High End Techniques Series Two DVD by Natalia Taffarel


The Art of Dodge & Burn – Series Three DVD by Krunoslav Štifter

Plus practice & patient