btdsgn wrote:
I don't know if you have any talent... but you're retouching isn't great. Keep practicing.

Well that's a bit harsh in my opinion....heh, but I agree, you certainly do need lots of practice.  It's not like you're doing any high fashion photos, so it's not like you need to master the art of....fashiony magazine photo edits.  However, learning to will only help your skill level.

Taste wise, I think these edits tend to look a bit on the cheap side, tacky.  I just find your taste questionable.  Also, your editing things that don't need editing, and then neglecting other things.  Here are some examples per photo...


1.)  Honestly, your watermark is what irritates me the most. XD
2.) The colors are too saturated.
3.) It looks too blurred.  Did you blur the skin by any chance?  If so, don't do that!


1.)  I'm not sure, but it almost looks like you stretched the image horizontally a little.  That's a BIG no-no.  It can be a useful technique to make people taller...but you do it in small increments otherwise it just distorts the image.  But overall, you should NEVER stretch out images like this.  The same rules apply to other images in your portfolio too where i see the same thing happening.
2.)  Those eyes are WAY too green.  Obvious sign of either bad editing.  There was nothing wrong with her natural color, why change it?  Again, serves no purpose.
3.) Lipstick.  Again....why?  What's the point? I guess this is just a matter of taste, but digital makeup rarely looks good.  Don't add more than what's already there, just tweak it slightly if need be.  If you wanted her to wear red lips, then she should have applied some before the photo. XD


1.)  That background is bad.  Again, just what purpose does it serve?  it's not helping the photo at all.  Not an improvement, and that's the point of retouch, is to improve. 
2.) Colors...way too saturated.  I'm not sure what your doing to the pictures to edit the colors, but it's not working.  I would experiment with levels and curves a bit more...and only make changes that help the photo.


Overall, I would just rethink your editing.  Look at other examples for inspiration and take note of things that they do, like how they handle colors, contrast, composition and so on.  Look for things you do and don't like, and ask yourself why you either like or don't like an image.

Practice USEFUL editing.  Don't make unnecessary changes that will not do any good for the photo.  It looks like you were just bored, and not sure what to do for the photo, so you added something just for the heck of it. So yeah, just some things to think about.

ShockStar Studios Films wrote:
This is photo manipulation, the girl in pink was added.

ok, just taking this one, look at it and compare the lighting and tones of the original and added model. Do they honestly look the same to you? Does her body language mirror the surrounding people? Is the perspective the same? When doing manips these are the things that are most important.

I've never heard of the package your using, but seeing what ye've done I aint impressed with its capabilities. Elements 8 would be far better and its not bank breaking like cs4 ext :-P