FotoJadamo wrote:
Let me know how you could have done this differently.

just personally I like the original desaturated look more. I would have gone down that road. I just think it'd look better than the color correction, but thats just me. neh!

The thing about retouching is to look at the pic and see what doesn't need done.

Ni Anluain wrote:
just personally I like the original desaturated look more.

Me too. I am not a big fan of what you did- the photo looks totally fake now. Also, you recomposed it- doesn't work, seems he is a big faced ape, which he is not, he lost his cuteness.

Ni Anluain wrote:
The thing about retouching is to look at the pic and see what doesn't need done.

Yes, you ignored basic things like blemishes, wrinkles and what not- you didn't even out the white paint or that paste he has applied on his face.

And the point out dark circles and how much and what is to be done is explained already by huggle. The eyes look more like buttons now, and that white in the iris is hurting.

Ashish Arora wrote:
you ignored basic things like blemishes, wrinkles and what not

Wrinkles on the skin aren't something that need to be obliterated, especially with men (and this is just my opinion) ... once people take away wrinkles from a man they turn them into just a boy.

LK Belter wrote:
Wrinkles on the skin aren't something that need to be obliterated, especially with men (and this is just my opinion) ... once people take away wrinkles from a man they turn them into just a boy.

Strongly disagree. Not at all, everyone wants to look young and your clients do not want to see a male model with wrinkles. And wrinkles on the forehead are different from the wrinkles you meant here, I know what you are talking about. By wrinkles- I meant: The crease lines near the eye and chin and lips that you thought are to be kept in a male, you don't have any of them here. Only if you knew what I was talking about. :x

If I told you he had hard lines on the forehead, you might would have observed that.

HuggleMistress wrote:
I agree, it does look a little too retouched.  The structure of the eye includes a top eye lid AND bottom eye lid which helps support the eye.  In this retouch, it looks like you've completely erased the bottom lid so it kind of looks funny.

Below here is an example I made showing the difference between dark circles and eye lids.


So the same goes for your image too...


So yeah, I would just watch out for things like that when chosing what to take out and what not to take out. ^__^

very well done!! great info and perfectibility explained..

my name is tony.. i critique critiques..thats how i roll..

hahahaha

Ashish Arora wrote:
My point was: Since you corrected the overexposure, his hard lines on the forehead have become even more visible now, and you must lighten them, not take them out completely, like you would in a beauty shot, for this being a male model shot.

???
So, if the overexposure (too much light) was causing a harsh separation of "lines", how can my correcting the lighting create an even more harsh effect?  If an image was flooded with light, it needs to be adjusted to appear easier to the viewer - to give balance.  Unless you are suggesting I lighten the lines first and THEN adjust the full image exposure. That would make sense, but practical?? Can someone clarify.

FotoJadamo wrote:
Unless you are suggesting I lighten the lines first and THEN adjust the full image exposure. That would make sense, but practical??

You always first heal and take out flaws, then do the colors and light adjustments. In case you were doing it the other way round, then you know where you were wrong, but its really not a standard method, you can adjust colors/lights and then choose to retouch skin as well.

Ultimate goal is to achieve results, and there are multiple paths to the same.