Waiting for an image, wanting to practice?

[chazcron]

OPRadmin has kindly permitted me to post an image I have previously done to give those who are waiting for their first hard image and want to see what they are likely to get and perhaps to practice.

I'll gladly give tips, guidance and evaluations, though if you are bold and experienced enough to brave the "hard" workshop, it probably won't be necessary.

I would be curious to see how other talents tackle an image I've already done. You're never too old to learn a new trick.

Good luck.

http://www.omsphoto.com/users/chazc/TIDWELL002.jpg

[John]

OPRadmin has kindly permitted me to post an image I have previously done to give those who are waiting for their first hard image and want to see what they are likely to get and perhaps to practice.

I'll gladly give tips, guidance and evaluations, though if you are bold and experienced enough to brave the "hard" workshop, it probably won't be necessary.

I would be curious to see how other talents tackle an image I've already done. You're never too old to learn a new trick.

Good luck.

http://www.omsphoto.com/users/chazc/TIDWELL002.jpg

Chazcron... can you also post your finished image?  Were you able to finish it to your satisfaction?  If not, maybe someone could work from where you left off also. 

Thanks for offering this up as an interim project while others are standing by for their assigned work.

Can you describe how you tackled this and what the most challenging parts of the fix were?

[chazcron]

There'll have to be a weekend of suspense, as the finished product is on my work computer, and I have Fridays off. I'd be happy to discuss the nature of the challenges then. I did finish it to my satisfaction, but I did hover over the finished product, putting "just one more" finishing touch after I dropped the jpg into the email body. I was fighting the illustrated look.

[Emianne]

I'll take a stab at it tonight.   :)

[happyheart]

If you are interested in photos to practice on, I found a site recently called RetouchPro.com.  It is listed on a site that Katrin Eismann has for her restoration book examples.  This site has some really active forums, but more exciting, they have Restoration Challenges.  The members download the images, restore them, and repost them.  Then the members post comments on the images, with helpful comments to correct needed things.  I have had very good experiences on the site so far.  I think it would be great if we could do a similar thing here on this site.  The workshops seem to be a good start in this direction.

[Dave]

Yeah RetouchPro is a great site and a good community, I visit there quite often and it is also where I found out about OPR! :)

[Risici]

That goes for me too, retouchpro was the place i first heard of Opr.

[danger_Mouse]

Thanks chazcron! Great opportunity to get some practice in before I start receiving stuff myself ;D

[chazcron]

Here is the finished image:

http://www.omsphoto.com/users/chazc/TIDWELL002B.jpg

As I look back on its completion, I realized I left the texture throughout to balance what was existing and what was illustrated. Had I attempted to smooth the whole image, it may have tilted the image further to the "illustrated" look. Also, at 3 hours for me, it had reached the limit of reasonable time for a retouch versus "guilding the lily" with not enough tangible improvement. Anyone COULD spend 8 hours on an image, but should you? It becomes a philosophical question. Sometimes knowing when to let go an say it is finished is a skill all its own.

One of the toughest parts was overcoming the discoloration around the chin without destroying the near perfect flesh  it obscured. I manually selected those areas and selectively lightened them with both an adjustment layer and some dodging and burning.

[paula]

This one was wicked. :D

[Mark Wilson]

This one was wicked. :D

I have to agree with you Paula. It's a toughie!

Chazcron's idea of posting this practice image was a good one. It might be worth posting a suitable image in the 'Moderate' and 'Easy' forums also, to allow people with different ability levels to practice during "dry" spells.

-Mark.

[Cambria]

This is a great idea! I heard about OPR from photoshopcontest.com and am happy to see familiar names here from that site.  I'm looking forward to working on my first photo as well. I think I'll pass on the difficult ones first time out! The positive input everyone shares here is great. :up: