Hello everyone, I was wondering how to achieve the beautiful silky hair or actually, how to know which parts and how much I should highlight and darken. I know that I should definitely get rid of all the flyaway hairs, but how can I get this united flow of hair?

http://cdn.streetdeal.sg/images/deals/4 … 281437.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jYGBJ_G2rs0/T … 61c_v5.jpg

http://www.brides.com/blogs/aisle-say/w … rspray.jpg

http://adsoftheworld.com/files/images/Priorin2.jpg

http://www.fashonhair.net/wp-content/up … Hair-2.jpg

All depends on how well your original image has been done... those examples you posted have been done by professional hairdressers that pay attention to every single detail.

In order to get to B we must see A first!! :-)

To the OP. As I mentioned before is always easier to see the image you would like to work on, as the samples you have posted are final images and everything has been done to a really high standards, from photography to hair.

If you like to achieve those looks its really important for everybody to see your starting point, otherwise is impossible to help you. :-)

Now it makes sense!! :-)

I know all this techniques stated before are great to retouch hair. But in my experience, retouching hair is one of the most difficult things to do...at least to do it professionally it is!!

The OP is asking how to get those looks (B) and based on experience, is not a matter of just apply those techniques and that's it, it really depends on the image you starting with (A). Some images if aren't good enough you will never will get those results... never!!

I agree with you but still something similar, remember I said similar, can be done it is a lot of reconstruction and time invested if you want to get something like that.
Here's an example that I remembered, I said similar
http://nienna1990.deviantart.com/art/De … -144966846
http://nienna1990.deviantart.com/art/St … -189334091

Daniel, one thing is hair retouching, another thing is hair comping.

The first example you showed is nicely done but in my opinion it looks fake and that's got not similarity to the samples the OP provided, the second example, that's hair retouching, but if you pay attention to the original image it already has a good starting point. Of course you can turn any hair into whatever you like but in my opinion this isn't hair retouching any more... is just manipulation.

You're right, I should have thought of that.

Obviously the images you chose to list are professional hair images where a hair stylist was used in the original capture...and the stylist was probably chosen because they are good at hair.  Its amazing what gorgeous and quality results you can get if you hire a gifted hair stylist for a shoot!!!  Their reputation and expertise and contribution to the team is at stake in your shoot...so you end up getting some pretty awesome looks right out of the camera!   This is especially true if the stylist is allowed to get back into the shooting process as needed to monitor the quality of the hair style as the shoot progresses...those fly-aways and messed up smooth spots... need continued attention and re-combing at the camera capture stage... to avoid making your retoucher go nuts later on.

If you already have some pretty good images...  then you can cut and paste snippets of good hair into poor areas and use the warp tool and the puppet warp tool to transform their shape and curves so they fit into the curve and flow of the new area.  You can transform their shape to fit the flow... and also to hide the fact that you are re-using the same snippet several times. You are then very likely to use a "Layer Mask" to selectively and perfectly hide and reveal parts of the hair snippet... and to blend it into the good hair, to cover up specific areas... so it looks believable and integrated into the existing and surrounding hair flow.  You might also use a curve layer ("Clipped" to the hair snipett layer) to perfectly match the color and luminance of the hair patch so it does not draw any attention to itself and blends in perfectly with the existing hair color.  You have to choose your snippets smartly, intelligently and creatively to get the great results obviously.

As a retouching resource... I have a couple hundred hair images where the hair is really nice...and I use these extra images to clone in patches into my new images where needed. I often drag a hair section from another image onto a new layer and blend it in as required.   I have even created a library of just different colored hair strands... and smooth runs... and waves... and highlights... and curls... and bangs...to pick and choose from.  Its amazing the fix-it work and visual magic you can do with hair repair resource images.  Search the net for your own  hi-res hair repair images... or look here at Mayhem. 

My main point is:  It is important to have a source of good looking hair snippets that you can import, color match, and blend into problem areas you are having.  If you cant shoot it perfectly in the studio... then at least have a library of hair repair images on hand to clone from and fix things up when needed. 

I recently had a very high resolution camera rented for the weekend and I shot some 75 megabyte RAW images of just hair textures, and smooth strands, and hair edges, and waves from hair extensions and wigs and 3 models that came over.  Guess what those hi-res hair snipet images will be used for someday? 

Just some practical ideas hopefully.

Cheers,

Ray

It honestly took me awhile when I first started out to really accept that a lot of amazing retouched images actually started out pretty great images right out of the camera - at least on a fundamental level.  I get images from time to time that are a bit flat or plain, but if the hair is clean, the makeup is good, styling/lighting is good, etc., that's giving me a lot of inspiration and a lot to work with and I can push them creatively to that next level. 

The images you posted were definitely shot with the hair as a major focal point - so it's clear from the start that a lot of attention and time was put into the hair even before any shooting took place.  I'm sure there were a few flyaway's and small problem areas - but for the most part the retoucher's job on these images wasn't so much about correction but more about accentuation. They simply used dodging and burning and brought up those really beautiful highlights and made them radiant while also creating depth and shape with the darker/shadow areas. 

The JLo images could possibly contain compositional elements, but most likely not for correction necessarily but for volume or length or just to fill in a few gaps, etc.

I have a before/after on my website of my profile image that used a bit of all these techniques.